Brexit, Britain and public broadcasting
Senators discuss British political leadership, the need for respectful Irish engagement after Brexit and racist rhetoric in public broadcasting and the media.
-----was Gordon Brown. The British Labour Party would do very well to invite him back to mainstream politics in Britain and give the kind of leadership that British politics needs right now in a time of massive confusion, where leadership seems to missing on all sides. I am not even sure that Mr. Shanahan of IDA Ireland, although he was praised in this House, should have spoken as though Britain had left for definite. Ireland needs to be respectful of Britain and of the British people, even as it makes its case. In conclusion, because we took the pain, out of solidarity, and because we embraced austerity - highly controversially - the EU needs to show that it really is about solidarity now and respects the needs of small nations, particularly Ireland's very special interests, in the time ahead. That will be the test of whether it really is a project worth supporting.
Comment on this
Like my colleague Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, I rise to send out congratulations to our near neighbours and cousins in Iceland.
Last night was one of the most joyous sporting occasions that an Irish team was not involved in. I have nothing against England and just feel that the match was wonderful.
I am very worried about one thing that we will talk about in the next debate. For the past three months on public service broadcasting, on the BBC and in press statements people made racist comments. These people were accused of being fascist and right wing but they were not. They were racists and bigots. We are going through a very difficult race to the bottom. Since the referendum result, a petrol bomb has been thrown at a halal butcher's shop in Birmingham and there has been a 57% increase in racist attacks. The same situation could happen in this country so we must be vigilant.
We need to invite the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport and Mr. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, to discuss the aftermath of what happened in France where supporters of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland mingled together and worked closely together. There can be a huge tourism benefit and other benefits as a result.