Vol. 152 No. 1
The next business is the election of the Cathaoirleach. Under Standing Order 2 in relation to the election of Cathaoirleach, the Chair will be taken by Senator Des Hanafin who is the Senator with the longest continuous period of service in the House. I call on Senator Hanafin to take the Chair.
Senator Hanafin took the Chair.
My function is to receive the motions for the election of the Cathaoirleach. I have been asked to perform this duty because of my service to the Seanad which makes me the father of the House. Looking around, I think that, as a father, I might have selected a better family.
It would certainly be a smaller one.
I will now accept a proposer and a seconder for the motion of proposal of the Cathaoirleach.
On behalf of the Members of the House, I congratulate Senator Hanafin on his long and distinguished service to the House and I am pleased to see him re-elected.
I have great pleasure as Leader of the Fianna Fáil group in the Seanad in proposing the name of Senator Brian Mullooly for the position of Cathaoirleach. Senator Mullooly would bring to this position a great wealth of experience. He has served his local authority in Roscommon since 1974 and had the distinction of being its chairman for six years. He is a former member of the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body and, since his election to the Seanad in 1981, he has been our education spokesperson on many occasions.
For years, I have seen at first hand Senator Mullooly's dedication and total commitment to this House through his roles as Fianna Fáil and Government Chief Whip, his membership of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and particularly in his role as Leas-Chathaoirleach for the past two years. Senator Mullooly has a great deal of respect for this House and for what it stands for. I have no doubt he would display the utmost impartiality and uphold the high standards of fairness which attach to the Chair. For these reasons, I have great pleasure in proposing Senator Mullooly for the position of Cathaoirleach of the 21st Seanad.
I formally second Senator Brian Mullooly, my colleague, fellow county man and friend. Senator Mullooly has served this country at local authority and national level for the past 23 years with dedication and distinction. He is a most suitable person to be Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann. To judge him on his recent record as Leas-Chathaoirleach of this House, we can be assured the business of this House, under the stewardship of Senator Brian Mullooly, will be completed with distinction and impartiality.
The Fine Gael group will not be oppose the nomination of Senator Brian Mullooly to the Chair. We positively welcome his nomination. During his time as Leas-Chathaoirleach he was fair and accessible. He has a strong sense of the House and its traditions. He has a good knowledge of procedure and, above all else, he is a person of impeccable fairness. We have pleasure in supporting the nomination of Senator Brian Mullooly.
On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, I support the nomination of Senator Brian Mullooly. He has served his apprenticeship and deserves to be Cathaoireach of the Seanad. He will perform his functions with the excellence and the fairness he demonstrated as Leas-Chathaoirleach. It is my pleasure to support his nomination.
The Independent group have not put forward a candidate on this occasion. It gives me great pleasure to welcome the now inexorable elevation of Senator Mullooly to the position of Cathaoirleach. He has been a friend of mine for many years. He is an active and highly organised member of my union and he has always supported me on a personal level. As somebody who is absolutely fair minded and a model public representative - he has always shown concern for Independents and others in this House - Senator Mullooly is a most acceptable person to take the Chair. He follows in the footsteps of other superb people, not least his immediate predecessor, Senator Liam Cosgrave. He will bring stature and honour to this job, as did his predecessors. I wish him well in the position.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I congratulate Senator Brian Mullooly on his nomination to the Chair. The Labour Party is happy to see him in that position. Senator Mullooly is an old friend of mine, a teacher like myself and he is also from the west, County Roscommon, just across the fields from where I come from in County Sligo. He will also continue the fine tradition of Cathaoirligh from Roscommon; three of the last four Cathaoirligh have been from that county. That must be a unique distinction. Senator Mullooly brings many qualities to the job of Cathaoirleach. He is a man of integrity and honour and I am sure he will bring respect and status to the office. I wish him well in the future and the Labour Party gives him its full support.
I shall put the question. Cuireadh an cheist: "Go dtoghfar an Seanadóir Brian Mullooly agus go rachaidh sé í gceannais an tSeanaid anois mar Chathaoirleach."
With regret, I now leave the Chair but I am sure I do so with some relief on the part of the House.
Whereupon Senators rose in their places and remained standing while the Cathaoirleach proceeded to the Dais.
A Sheanadóirí, is mór an onóir dom gur toghadh mé d'aonghuth inniu mar Chathaoirleach ar Sheanad Éireann agus tá mé fíorbhuíoch díbh uilig.
Tá mé fíorbhuíoch freisin de mo pháirtí féin a roghnaigh mé don oifig thábhachtach seo. Geallaimse díbh go ndéanfaidh mé mo dhícheall bheith im' Chathaoirleach éifeachtach agus geallaimse díbh freisin go dtabharfaidh mé cothrom na Féinne do chách.
It is a very great honour and privilege to have been elected Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann. I am deeply grateful to Senators on all sides of the House for electing me unanimously to this very important office. I am especially grateful to the Members on my left, my party colleagues, who selected me as their nominee. I thank my proposer, the Leader of the House, Senator Cassidy, and my seconder, Senator Finneran, for their very kind remarks. I am also grateful to the Members who paid tribute to me and to all Senators for their good wishes as I undertake this new and very important role. I am deeply conscious of the very high standards set by all my predecessors and I pledge to do my utmost to uphold them during my term of office.
My priority as Cathaoirleach will be to ensure there is a positive public perception of the Seanad. I have a deep commitment to the House and I want it to be seen as an effective and relevant part of the Oireachtas. I sincerely hope the programme of reform initiated by my predecessors, particularly in the last Seanad, will be continued and we can build on what has been achieved thus far.
I hope the policy of inviting distinguished persons to address the Seanad will be continued. Much of the credit for this innovation, which proved very worthwhile in the last Seanad, must go to the former leader of the House and now Leader of the Opposition, Senator Manning. I look forward to working with Members on all sides of the House for the next four years and 11 months.
We are fortunate to have two outstanding people as Clerk and Assistant Clerk of the Seanad and an excellent staff in the Seanad Office. They and I will always be available to provide guidance and advice to Members of the House, particularly new Members. I know that in return I will have your support and co-operation as I endeavour to carry out my duties as Cathaoirleach in an efficient, fair and impartial manner. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
On behalf of all Members of the House I congratulate you on being elected Cathaoirleach of the 21st Seanad. We look forward to working under your stewardship.
I propose a vote of congratulations to your predecessor, Senator Liam Cosgrave, who was an excellent Cathaoirleach. As the Cathaoirleach stated, he made his mark as Cathaoirleach of the House. I concur with the remarks made about the Clerk, Deirdre Lane, and the Assistant Clerk, Jody Blake, and all the staff. I thank them for their work and the facilities they have made available to us, particularly during the election count. They worked two 19 hour days and one 17 hour day, which is probably a record. I acknowledge the hard work they put into successfully concluding the election count.
