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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Nov 2020

Vol. 272 No. 5

Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad

Many Senators spoke last week on the issue of the US presidential election. Now that we have President-elect Biden, the Ceann Comhairle and I wrote to the Taoiseach asking that consideration be given to inviting President-elect Biden to come to Ireland and to address a joint sitting of these Houses. I know the Mayo and Louth contingents, and now I hear the Wexford and Cork contingents, where he has relatives would welcome such an address.

In our letter to President-elect Biden, we quoted one of his favourite poets, W.B. Yeats, who is a former Member of the Seanad:

Think where man's glory most begins and ends,

And say my glory was I had such friends.

I am sure Ireland has a friend in President-elect Biden and that he looks forward to meeting all his friends in Ireland when he comes here in due course.

I speak on behalf of the female contingent in saying that we are very much looking forward to receiving the first lady Vice President to address both Houses of the Oireachtas. I pay tribute to RTÉ for the coverage it gave us over the weekend, in particular the montage at the very end that was so poignantly put to the Seamus Heaney poem. I thought it was beautiful and, apparently, it has gone viral in America so it has not done us any harm whatsoever.

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