Before I call on the Deputy Leader to outline the Order of Business, I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery Sweden's ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency, Mr. Magnus Rydén. The national day of Sweden commemorates Gustav Vasa being made king in 1523 and the new government being formed in 1809, which is viewed as the foundation of the constitutional monarchy of Sweden. Last year, Sweden celebrated the 100th anniversary of the introduction of universal voting and equal voting rights. The origins of the national day date back to 1893. It is known as Swedish Flag Day. The Swedish national holiday comes just before its very important Midsummer festival.
Sweden has a history of being in close contact and having close relations with Ireland. After 1949, Sweden was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic links with Ireland. Ireland is, of course, an important partner of Sweden in the EU. Our peacekeepers also work closely together. Sweden shares with Ireland the common interest of having a strong and effective EU. We look forward to strengthening the bilateral relations, deepening diplomatic dialogue and promoting trade between our two countries. In due course, the Swedish embassy will be re-established in Dublin, which we are delighted to see.
A total of four Irish writers have won the Swedish Nobel Prize for Literature, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, and Senator W.B. Yeats. On receiving the Nobel prize, Yeats said "when I received from the hands of your King the great honour your Academy has conferred upon me, I felt that a young man’s ghost should have stood upon one side of me and at the other a living woman in her vigorous old age". I wish the ambassador, His Excellency, Mr. Magnus Rydén, and all the Swedish people here in Ireland and around the world, a very happy national day of Sweden. I thank the ambassador for being with us today.