I join in extending our sympathy to Senator Eamonn Coghlan on the death of his mother and in extending my good wishes to our friend and colleague, Senator Jimmy Harte. I hope he will make a very speedy recovery and that we will have his good humour and wit back in this House before very long. Our thoughts are with him and his family at this very difficult time.

I join in the joy to see our friend and colleague, Ms Jody Blake, back with us and looking so well. It is good to see that smile back in the Chamber once more.

I welcome the announcement yesterday that President Higgins would make an historic visit to the United Kingdom in April. It reflects the growing maturity and excellent relations between our countries. We are all very conscious of the very fragile peace process we have in Northern Ireland and I hope this visit will help in a meaningful way. As elected Members, we all need to play a part in cementing that peace process and now that Seanad Éireann has a renewed mandate, I ask the Leader to reactivate our invitation to the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to come to the House in order that we can have some discussions on the peace process and how we as Members of Seanad Éireann can help.

On a related matter, we are getting closer to 2016, which could be a very significant day for many of us in this House. I ask the Leader for a debate with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on plans to commemorate the 1916 Rising and other significant centenaries we will celebrate in the following years. There is concern that not enough effort and thought are being put into marking this very significant historical event. Historically, we need to mark it, but there is also an opportunity to bring many people into the country in the next few years to build on the tremendous work done during The Gathering. We will have so many significant events to mark, it would be a pity if this is not well organised, marketed and planned in an appropriate manner.

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator Fidelma Healy Eames. I join other colleagues in welcoming the return to work of Ms Jody Blake and wish her well. I send my condolences to Senator Eamonn Coghlan on the death of his mother. I was not aware of it until the Government Whip informed me. I wish our colleague, Senator Jimmy Harte, very best wishes for his recovery in Beaumont Hospital. I understand he is making great progress. We wish him well and look forward to having him back here in the Chamber as soon as possible.

I welcome the proposed state visit by President Higgins to England next year. He will be the first President of Ireland to do so. I welcome the progress in the relations between our two islands, in particular, during the past two decades. I wish the Government well and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar and his colleagues, in their application to be joint hosts with Northern Ireland of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. This would be a great occasion for our island and it offers very great tourism potential and media exposure. We are too small to apply to host any of the other major international tours except for the cricket tour. My leader has informed me that we are quite capable of hosting it and maybe we should apply to host a future one.

I am working on it.