Traveller community engagement and UN assembly
Deputy Thomas P. Broughan offers condolences on Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and praises the Ceann Comhairle’s engagement with Traveller representatives. The Tánaiste welcomes that outreach and then moves to Ireland’s work on strengthening multilateral institutions and the UN parliamentary assembly.
On behalf of my Independent colleagues, I pay tribute to Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and offer condolences to his family and friends. Mícheál's love and enthusiasm for music was infectious and he can rightly be placed alongside Seán Ó Riada, George Martin and all the other great musicians. When people saw him sitting down at the keyboard, they felt like going to a keyboard themselves, his enthusiasm was so infectious.
I pay tribute to the Ceann Comhairle for his organisation of the meeting and dinner last night with leaders of the Traveller community, at which I was delighted to represent the Independent group. It was a very important initiative and the Ceann Comhairle deserves great credit as chairperson of the House.
I would like to discuss the issue of Ireland's support for a UN parliamentary assembly. The Tánaiste will be aware that this week elected representatives from around the globe, excluding elected representatives of dictatorships, called for the support of Ireland and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly tier to the United Nations. There is great frustration in regard to how large powers and dictatorships can dominate on issues like Yemen, Syria, Iraq and so on and the view is that if we had elected members at some level, it would help. Will the Tánaiste push for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly during his tenure in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade?
Comment on this
I agree with the Deputy's remarks regarding the Ceann Comhairle's leadership last night on the issue of reaching out to the Traveller community, for which I, too, thank him. I hope we will see a lot more of it.
On the UN parliamentary assembly, we are currently looking at ways in which Ireland along with many other countries can continue to protect and support multilateral structures through the UN so that we do not allow the UN and other international fora to become places where the large control everything and might is right. The contributions I have made at a UN level have very much focused on how small and medium-sized, and some large countries, that are deeply committed to multilateralism can work together to do this. In it is in that context that I will give serious consideration to any proposals that come to my desk.