Vol. 145 No. 17
I announce that on 20 December 1995 the Taoiseach nominated Brian Hayes, with his prior consent, to fill the casual vacancy in the number of nominated Members of Seanad Éireann caused by the death of Gordon Wilson.
I welcome Senator Hayes to the House. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him every good luck.
On behalf of the Government side of the House I express pleasure at the nomination of Brian Hayes to be a Member of the Seanad. In a short career he has already distinguished himself and I know he will be an extremely worthwhile, hard working and distinguished Member.
On behalf of my party I extend a warm welcome to Senator Hayes. I had the good fortune to be in the same position as he is by getting the nod from the Taoiseach of the day. This is a great occasion for him, his family and all associated with him. I wish him every success. Some Members would wish him a long stay but I am not sure if some of my colleagues would share this view.
There is some surprise that the well established and tried precedent of appointing somebody from the North of Ireland to this House has not been followed. Those appointed by various Governments have included John Robb, Seamus Mallon, Brid Rogers and the late Gordon Wilson. Some people may regret that this precedent has not been maintained.
It is known in this House that Senator Hayes has an inside track. However, I would not listen to his inside track for advice or otherwise. Some of us have had twin tracks in this House before. We wish the Senator good luck and good fortune in the future.
On behalf of the Independent Senators, I welcome Senator Hayes to the House. I hope he enjoys it as much as I do and I am sure he will be a useful Member. I hope this change in the numbers does not mean the Independent Senators will be less useful or less valuable to Senator Cosgrave in the future.
Definitely not.
He has looked after us well in the past few months.
I join in welcoming Senator Hayes to the House. I am sure he will make a valuable contribution; I am pleased he got his Christmas present early. We look forward to working with him.
It is a matter of some regret — I am not taking from Senator Hayes's merits — that the tradition of Senator Wilson is not present here. His voice was a valuable one which did us and the country good. I can think of similar voices in Northern Ireland which might have made the same contribution as Senator Wilson.
I wish Senator Hayes well and I look forward to him being here for a long time to come.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome Senator Hayes to the House. We look forward to working with him and I hope he has a happy and productive time here.
I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for your warm and sincere welcome to this House. I also thank the other Members for their contributions. It is a great honour at the age of 26 to be a Member of this House of the Oireachtas. I look forward to making contributions here and to a long service, despite the comments of some colleagues.
