Vol. 146 No. 10
I have to announce that the following Member has been elected to fill the casual vacancy in the membership of the Seanad to which the Resolution of Seanad Éireann on 20 December 1995 has reference — Industrial and Commercial Panel, Nominating Bodies Sub-Panel: Sam McAughtry.
Senator McAughtry was introduced to the Cathaoirleach and then took his seat.
I congratulate Senator McAughtry on his election and wish him every good luck as a Member of this House.
On the first real day of spring and on the day when the peace process happily and thankfully is back on the rails and revitalised, it is particularly significant that we have an opportunity to welcome Sam McAughtry as a Member of Seanad Éireann. He comes from a community which should have a voice in this House. It is a voice which in the past was eloquently represented by John Robb and our late colleague, Gordon Wilson. Senator McAughtry follows in a great tradition. We know he has an important contribution to make and what he says in this House will be listened to. We congratulate him and wish him well.
On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party I welcome our newest Member to the Upper House. He is the latest in a list of distinguished writers who were Members of this House. The first Seanad included W.B. Yeats and Oliver St. John Gogarty among its Members and it could be said that the Senator has a hard act to follow. We look forward to Senator McAughtry's contributions. I am sure they will be characterised by his wit, humour and sense of justice. In the man Senator McAughtry is replacing, our late great friend Senator Seán Fallon, our newest Member also has a hard act to follow.
Like his predecessors from the North, I am sure Senator McAughtry will have many trips to make both to and from this House. Most of them will be by car although I have no idea if the Senator's affections extend to motor vehicles or whether, like J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield, he "does not give a damn". Like the Senator, I have a great love of horses, especially fast horses.
On the day when the Taoiseach, Deputy John Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, John Major, are sitting around a table trying to bring peace to this island, it is appropriate Senator McAughtry is with us. I welcome him.
On behalf of the Independent Senators, I welcome Senator McAughtry, having known and admired him for so long through the peace train movement and admired his tremendous insight into a part of Northern Ireland which really has not been represented in this House before. If the debates prove somewhat tedious and difficult for the Senator, perhaps he will take out his book Play it Again, Sam and read us some extracts which are most informative about life in Northern Ireland. Senator Wright has mentioned something with which the Senator could start — the story of the drunken monk. It is about a horse.
On behalf of the Labour Party I am happy to welcome Senator McAughtry. He represents a strong tradition in Northern Ireland which we are happy to have represented in this House. He speaks with honesty and wit and we look forward to hearing him address the House.
Today is an auspicious day in the peace process and it is particularly significant that we welcome Senator McAughtry to the House. In the months ahead we will need to hear individual voices of unionism because there is not just one voice. In the past 24 hours I was somewhat concerned to hear the term "pan-nationalist front" being used by unionist leaders. Senator McAughtry will find that there is no pan-nationalist front; there are many views within nationalism and many views among the parties in this House. There are also many views within unionism and what we need now is a spirit of coming together and trying to understand each other and each other's point of view. We look forward to hearing Senator McAughtry's point of view.
On behalf of the Progressive Democrats I welcome Senator McAughtry, the Member from Tiger Bay, to Seanad Éireann. It is important that the distinctive voice of Northern Ireland, which has unfortunately been absent since the death of Senator Gordon Wilson, be heard. I look forward to it being heard in the House again because it is an important voice. I am aware of Senator McAughtry's contribution to the peace train movement, etc. I was encouraged by the undertaking he gave when elected to try to use his influence to prevent loyalist paramilitaries reentering the fray. I thank him for that.
Unlike Senator Wright my preference seems to be for slow horses, not fast ones. I look forward to Senator McAughtry's advice as to what horses we should back at Cheltenham. The Senator is very welcome, we are glad to see him. I congratulate Paddy O'Hanlon on the good fight he put up during the election. I commiserate with him and the other unsuccessful candidates.
I welcome Senator McAughtry on behalf of Democratic Left. I recently had the pleasure to introduce him to my party colleagues.
As Gaeilge no doubt.
I listened to him speak on that occasion and I am satisfied a good choice has been made. I have no doubt that Senator McAughtry's experience, etc., will make his contribution to this House very worthwhile.
I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, and other Members for your warm welcome.
Someone said that they expect me to provide the unionist perspective. I am a hybrid unionist in that I am happy to live in the United Kingdom but I am happier still to be Irish and to proclaim my Irishness. As I stated on the day of my election, it is my dearest wish to see this island inhabited by 5 million Irish people, living in two jurisdictions with consent, but with institutions established to emphasise their Irishness. I have urged for some time that we should negotiate as Irish people to Irish people. I am greatly saddened to see graffiti on walls in my area with references to the Irish as some sort of enemy. For people living in areas, such as Ballyhackamore, to discourage the Irish language seems a sad error of judgment.
As to my contribution to this House, there are certain things on which I will make no contribution. For example, I am still attempting to work out the ramifications of the beef tribunal. I will leave such things to the Government of the Republic. My background is labour, and the issues that would interest a labour man in any jurisdiction — South or North — will interest me. I should advise the Seanad that the population of the town of Comber from where I come is almost entirely Protestant and they are just as glad as Members seem to be to see me take my seat in the House. I bring that news from the North.
They also have some of the best restaurants in Europe.
In saying so, the Senator should name the restaurants involved.
Since the news of my election broke, people North and South have asked my advice on many matters relating to the peace process. They have asked me how it will end. They have been saying this for 25 years but they are saying it to me more often now than ever. My reply is that I do not know. This reminds me of the taxi driver in London who was hailed by C.S. Lewis. When he got into the taxi the driver said, "hello C.S. Lewis." C.S. Lewis said it was nice he had recognised him to which the taxi driver replied: "We meet all sorts of big names in this business. I had Bertrand Russell, the philosopher, in my taxi the other day. I asked him, ‘What is it all about?' and he did not know. I said how do you expect me to know?"
I have developed a number of interests over the years. I will tell another tale before I sit down, because I will not often have the chance to do this. When I was with The Irish Times, they sent four writers to the four corners of Ireland to talk to pupils who showed an interest in English. I was invited to lunch in a convent school in Donegal. While I was having lunch and speaking to the headmistress at one end of the table, a very old nun kept looking up the table at me and dissolving into titters and sniggers. I thought “God bless her, they keep them for a long time in the teaching game”. When it was time to leave and go back to the classroom, I stopped behind her, put my arms on her shoulders and thanked her for her hospitality over lunch. She asked if I wondered why she had smiled at me and I said yes. She replied that she wondered what they would say in Tiger Bay if they could have seen me. I wonder what they would say in Tiger Bay if they could see me now.
I thank all who warmly greeted me. I am conscious of the friendliness I am shown on the streets of Dublin. I hope to travel around Ireland a great deal and to begin to learn about the process of Government at the heart of democracy as it is demonstrated here. I live for the day when we in the North will also use pure democracy to run our lives, as people here do.
