On behalf of the Sinn Féin team in the Seanad, I condemn what was done to Éamon de Valera's grave. It was wholly unacceptable and there are no other words for it.

Senator Michael McDowell spoke about torture. I agree with what he said. We are ever mindful that thousands of young men in the North were interned, many of whom were tortured, which has now been well documented in the case of the hooded men who went through horrific torture. It was a political decision and the Government of this 26 county state was complicit by its silence.

I was surprised yesterday to hear my colleague, Senator Keith Swanick, champion the proposition that there be an annual national holiday on 21 January to celebrate our independence because his party, Fianna Fáil, has been inconsistent in its voting record on the issue to celebrate the struggle for independence and all those who took part in it. In October 2015 Sinn Féin introduced the Public Holiday (Lá na Poblachta) Bill, of which Fianna Fáil voted in favour before the last general election. However, when the Bill was reintroduced in June 2016 and again last November, in the light of the new arithmetic in the Dáil and despite the rise in national sentiment as a result of the various events organised to mark the centenary year, in which the public played a huge role, all of Senator Keith Swanick's colleagues voted against it. I cannot understand why a Bill which was acceptable in October 2015 was deemed to be unacceptable and voted against the following June. I use the opportunity to urge Fianna Fáil to have the courage to agree with Sinn Féin when it matters. We are, of course, flattered by the continuing imitation of many of our policies, but the public would gain far more if Fianna Fáil Members stayed away from the blue abstain button and gave voters the respect they deserve and took a stand on really important issues such this. We saw the same behaviour-----