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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Aug 1923

Vol. 1 No. 41

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 1923.

AN CATHAOIRLEACH

The first business on the Orders for the Day is the Damage to Property (Amendment) Bill, 1923. This Bill has been certified as a Money Bill. The Motion is that this Bill be read a second time.

Agreed.

AN CATHAOIRLEACH

It is proposed to take the remaining stages of this Bill through with the consent of the Seanad. For that purpose the Standing Orders have to be suspended.

I beg to move that the Standing Orders be suspended.

I beg to second that.

Agreed.

Motion: "That the Bill be considered in its remaining stages," put and agreed to.
Motion: "That the Bill be received for final consideration," put and agreed to.
Motion: "That the Bill do now pass," put and agreed to.

AN CATHAOIRLEACH

I do not know if the President, who is with us, has any statement to make?

I came in with a view to explaining what the Damage to Property (Amendment) Bill meant, but I take it that the Seanad quite understands it, and there is no necessity on my part to refer to it. I would like, now that I assume the Seanad is about to adjourn, to express on behalf of myself and the other members of the Ministry, our very deep appreciation of the manner in which the Seanad has received the proposals that we have made for their consideration. During the short period through which the Oireachtas has just passed we have had on many occasions to claim your indulgence. We have put within the past few weeks very serious responsibility on the Seanad at very short notice, and we have received the fullest co-operation and assistance from the Seanad. Now, at the first Dissolution of the Oireachtas of the Saorstát, I think that our most hostile critics will not find fault with us in paying our tribute to the very kind and cordial reception that every member of the Ministry has received at the hands of the Seanad in introducing and submitting for the approval of the Seanad the legislative proposals which the Dáil entrusted us with the duty of seeing through this Seanad. I also wish to pay a tribute to the extraordinary courage and perseverance of the Senators who were marked out for special attention during the past six or eight months, and to the fine exhibition of citizenship shown by them during that period. I do not think that these are flattering words. I think that it is due to the members of the Seanad that we should make them. It is to me a very great pleasure, indeed, to have been in the position of President of the Executive Council, and to have received at your hands such very kind co-operation, such able assistance and such a manifest desire to do everything that was possible to make the very onerous task which fell upon us through sad accident in this the first year of the Oireachtas of the Saorstát. I can only say in conclusion that we may not meet again in the same position. If we do not, it would not be the fault of the Seanad, because we have received every possible assistance from them. They have met us in a fair and generous spirit, and while their criticism was very gentle, it was constructive, and it was useful, and it was of assistance to us. I will conclude by saying that my thanks are due to every member of the Seanad, to the Leas-Cathaoirleach, and last, but not least, to An Cathaoirleach.

I am sure the Seanad appreciates the kindness of the President's remarks. We were glad to assist the Government of the country in the carrying on of public administration. Some of us have spent most of our lives trying to establish an Irish Government. When we have one it is our first duty to support it. I think that the sentiment animating every single member of the Seanad was that it was their first duty to support the Government of the country, and I am glad to hear from the President that we have been enabled to do so to some purpose. But apart from that, I should like to say that, like everybody else who thinks in this country, we must recognise and appreciate the amazing work that the Government has done. This Government started in a time of revolution, without any of the ordinary assistance or constitutional appliances that a Government in a civilised country usually depends upon. This Government had to be in the condition of a tabula rasa and build up everything from the bottom in the face of unprecedented and almost incredible difficulties. So I think it speaks well for the Governmental capacity of the Irish race that the first Irish Government for over 100 years has succeeded so well in the face of the enormous obstacles we had to overcome. I am grateful to the President for what he said of the Seanad, and I can assure him that whatever Government is established in the country in the future, it will always have the assistance of that body to which I have the honour to belong.

I am sure I voice your feelings and the feelings of the Seanad, at hearing the President's words with regard to the work that we have done, at the end of the Session, in saying we deeply appreciate them. As he said, we have had a serious responsibility, and we have accepted this responsibility, and we have dealt with it. Now, at the end of this Session, we have dealt with many important Bills that were sent up to us, to be dealt with critically and properly. There is a certain amount of rush and difficulty. That is not unusual at the end of any Session in an Assembly of this sort. One Bill was discussed with keenness, and the other was adjourned to the next Session.

I think that will show the Dáil and the Executive Council that many of us here know how to deal with matters of serious import that come before us. I hope we shall see the President again in the same position as he now occupies. I may say, without any wish to talk about myself, that I have been a long time mixed up in Irish politics, and I desire to say this to the President and his Government: he has got two things to put before the electors, one is the Treaty and the other is the Land Bill, which appeals to the agrarian population whose votes will decide the future contest. I desire to thank the President for what he has said in regard to the Seanad.

As one who does not often intervene in the discussions here, perhaps I might be allowed to add my humble tribute to the President and his colleagues for the splendid part they have taken in the Government of this country during the last twelve most eventful months. We all remember that about twelve months ago, as we have been reminded by the two previous speakers, the country was in a terrible state of turmoil and devastation at the hands of people so sadly misled; so much so that in my own part of the country, the South of Ireland, the County of Cork in a special manner, has been cut off from connection with the rest of Ireland and its trading has been interfered with, and as we have been reminded our own houses have not been free from attack. Some Senators' houses have been destroyed, while others have marks on them where they were fired at constantly. Thank God none of these things seemed to frighten us, and in a special manner I think succeeding generations will acknowledge that the members of the present Government, some of whose dearest relations lost their lives, will be regarded as amongst the most courageous of Irishmen.

We have especially to thank the Government for the raising of that wonderfully disciplined body of men who, out of raw recruits, have become such an efficient force in the country. They also deserve a tribute in respect to the Civic Guard, who are the admiration of the country and everybody, in the remotest part of Ireland even, places the utmost confidence in the members of the Guard. Most of those men were unarmed, and they have retained, through their courage and discretion, the confidence of our people. There is another point I would like to emphasise, and I do not think the Press or the people of the country have taken sufficient notice of it. That is that notwithstanding the most unreasonable and unfair criticisms that have been levelled against the Government of Ireland by some of the most prominent of the newspapers across the Channel, and expressions given utterance to by prominent politicians not only in England but in Northern Ireland, the members of the Irish Free State Government have not replied to the opprobious epithets that were hurled against them; they ignored them with a dignity that the whole nation must admire. I sincerely hope that President Cosgrave and his colleagues will come back to power with an increased majority, and that they will carry on the conduct of this country in a manner that will lead to further peace and prosperity.

I came in unfortunately a little late to-day, and I had not the advantage of hearing some of the speeches. It has been suggested that I have been rather a critic of the Ministry here, and it is therefore but right that I should say a few words to show that I am not unreasonable and that I value the services the Ministry have done for the country. The members of the Ministry came, as we all know, at a time of terrible crisis when all Ireland was in a whirlpool, so to speak. Nobody knew how we were to get out of our troubles and the Ministry showed great courage, stability, and energy in the way they faced the difficulties before them. Of course no one in the world is perfect, and it is but natural that various things are open to criticism from time to time. I think that is the object of this Assembly to have people expressing their opinions freely on different matters, saying what they have to say even if it is sometimes favourable or sometimes adverse. Otherwise there would be no need in having this Assembly. I have adopted that view, and perhaps I have not always pleased people by doing so. I have always recognised the courage the Ministry have shown in the troubles they have met and I think they have brought the issue to a successful conclusion now and that we are going to have an era of peace and prosperity and goodwill among Irishmen. I hope that the hard words upon which a great deal of the trouble was built will be softened down and that we will speak of our adversaries in a very friendly spirit. That is the essence of goodwill in this country. I will just conclude by saying that I congratulate the Ministry on the work they have done.

I have great pleasure also in acknowledging the tribute paid to the Seanad by the President. In very simple and clear language he has praised us a little too much. Perhaps you A Chathaoirligh are the only one deserving of the nice things he did say. I am sure we all hope that the Ministry, with the President at its head, will be returned with a large majority at the next election. Our countrymen are not absolute ingrates, and I am certain that they have observed very carefully the trend of affairs within the last 12 months. Like ourselves they have seen the difficulties with which the Government was faced. They have seen the almost insurmountable difficulties which were completely compassed by the President and his Government. Any assistance that we have given was given in a spirit of real loyalty to the Government. As some speakers have said, we felt it was our duty to be critical and whilst we were a little critical of some of the measures we were not as critical of others as we might be. We felt that some of them were emergency measures, and let them pass without much comment. I am sure nobody appreciated that more than President Cosgrave and his Government as was shown by the generous acknowledgment he has made to-day. We all sincerely trust that the era of peace which we have struggled to bring about is near at hand. We are all ready and willing to forgive all that has occurred in the past and are most anxious to recognise that Ireland is a country for all Irishmen, that old differences have passed away and that we are all bound together in a common brotherhood to try and lead our country to peace and prosperity.

One feels that almost everything that could be said has been said. On the other hand, one feels that one could talk for days upon the work of the Government during the first year of this memorable Oireachtas. I, too, feel that great work has been done. The Ministry displayed, to my mind, a rare quality of statesmanship, great insight, great foresight and, above all, a determination to secure for the citizens of this land of ours peace and freedom to enjoy the prosperity which their acts secured. We were critics, but friendly critics. We tried to be true to ourselves.

"This above all—to thine own self be true;

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man."

The Government accepted our criticism as we intended it. We were sent here under the Constitution to consider Bills presented to us, to amend them if necessary, and to see that every measure passed would secure the object for which it was framed. I think, as the President said, that we have been successful and have not been a clog on the wheels, but a great help. I should like to endorse what has been said so well by other Senators, that there should be no danger in this land of ours, of any swopping of horses crossing the stream. The stream is being crossed, the bridge is being made across it, and there is a danger of it being blown down. I feel that the men who are building so well and so wisely should be allowed to continue the structure until, in yet more peaceful days, we can all enjoy in peace what some of them have won for us.

AN CATHAOIRLEACH

I do not think, in view of what has been said by so many of my colleagues in the Seanad, that it is needful for me to say anything further than to associate myself in their names, and on their behalf, with the expression of appreciation of the remarks that have fallen from the distinguished President of the Irish Free State. I only wish to add that I desire to thank him personally for his unvarying courtesy and consideration to myself. I wish also to acknowledge and recognise the harmonious relations which, during the past twelve months, have subsisted between the Dáil and the Seanad, and to thank particularly An Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil for his sympathy and co-operation with myself.

May I acknowledge with very deep gratitude the very kindly remarks that have been made by yourself and by other Senators. I had really no intention of saying anything that would elicit these remarks. They have been a surprise to me, and a very great comfort, having regard to the difficult times through which we have passed. I shall have the greatest pleasure in conveying to the other members of the Ministry the very kind, and I feel somewhat flattering, remarks that have been passed. We appreciate them very much indeed, and also the kindly expressions of opinion that we should again be returned.

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