Before we start the Order of Business, on behalf of all Members of this House and on my own behalf and that of the Fianna Fáil Party, I wish to express sympathy to our Taoiseach on the death of his mother. I wish to pay tribute to Mrs. Julia Ahern who passed away on Monday morning last. It is particularly sad that her death should occur as the Taoiseach leads his team and joins with other leaders to negotiate an historic agreement to replace an era of dissension and destruction with one of peace and prosperity.
Julia Ahern and her late husband, Con, represented that generation of Irish men and women who bridged the gap between our independence and our emergence as a confident, successful, sovereign member of the European Union. Not by even the wildest lapses of imagination could these heroes of our early years have foreseen just how successful we as a nation would become. What they did see and understand was the importance of passing on a set of values to their children and their children's children. They had a love of learning, strong religious belief, an appreciation of our language, culture and traditions, a burning desire to see all the children of the nation treated equally, a love of the land and landscape, a delight in sporting achievement and a firm belief that by positive political action we can achieve our national objectives.
That is the legacy they successfully passed on to this generation. Like many thousands of mothers and fathers of that generation, these two proud people from west Cork raised their family in Dublin and devoted all their lives to the betterment of their children. The great advances of their family are testament to their efforts and the strength of their beliefs. Mrs. Julia Ahern took great pride in the achievements of all her children, not least her youngest child, the Taoiseach. She was a warm woman of forthright views who advised her son in moments of great importance in his political life. Today we salute her for her sacrifice, her commitment and her great spirit which made her so many friends and admirers. We join all our colleagues in offering to her family our deepest condolences at this sad time. In expressing our profound sorrow at her passing, we reaffirm our commitment to doing for this generation what she and her contemporaries did in their efforts to hand on intact these essential religious and cultural values which inspire our beliefs, and our relentless pursuit of peace on this island. Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a hanam.
Today's Order of Business is items 1 and 2, item 1, Report and Final Stages. The contributions of spokespersons on item 2 should not exceed 20 minutes and those of all other Senators should not exceed 15 minutes.
