I join others who have spoken of their regrets about the failure of politics in the US in terms of gun control, but the issue that I wish to focus on is one in which politics must not be allowed to fail. It pertains to the scenes that we saw in Catalonia over the weekend. The response from the Taoiseach has not been adequate. He stated that he would not recognise the result, and so be it, but it is incumbent on him to recognise not only the frustration, but the urgency and danger to the European project of what has been unfolding in Catalonia. The Taoiseach spoke rightly about the danger of state violence leading to radicalisation, but it also leads to another danger stalking Europe at the moment, namely, authoritarianism.

Hear, hear.

We need to address both concerns. That requires active engagement. It is not sufficient that Europe has said that it trusts the leadership of Prime Minister Rajoy, who has praised the "serenity" of riot police, who injured 900 people and used rubber bullets. We need to ask about the role of EU mediation. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has called for EU mediation. Where does Ireland stand on that call? Will Ireland support a role for Europe in this situation?

In addition to Spain, Europe has a responsibility to move past our focus on securitisation in recent years, which has caused us to neglect the work of peace-building and diplomacy. This is something on which Europe - and Ireland within Europe - should be leading. We need to show we can step forward and recognise that peace-building and politics are not simply about law enforcement. They are about diplomacy, sensitivity, recognition of complexity and facilitating dialogue when it may seem impossible. This is something Ireland knows from its own history and role in peace-building and something we urge in Europe. We have relied on international engagement in the past to support us in this area. We now need to engage further with this issue. Where will Ireland stand? What will Ireland say at the Council of Ministers? Will we be demanding mediation? The 2012 decision to roll back on autonomy in Catalonia, for example, was allowed to pre-empt some of this. The role of regional development in Europe has taken a back seat in some of the short-term national fiscal targets. Public consultation and democracy have been neglected. There is an urgent role incumbent upon us now not simply to say the law is the law and so be it but rather to ask where is the space for new laws and new dialogue and how can we open this up. Ireland has a unique role in Europe. I would appreciate it if the Leader could pass this on to the Government and ask for detail, not just on whether Ireland will recognise the referendum result but on what Ireland intends to do to address this danger at the heart of Europe of disintegration and a loss of faith in democracy and in Europe's principles of solidarity.

Following from Senator Higgins's remarks, we in this House must send a strong message to the Government of Spain that the actions of its police force last weekend were entirely unacceptable in a modern European democracy or indeed in any democracy entitled to bear that name. Regardless of where one stands on the question of Catalan independence, I acknowledge there will be a variety of views in these Houses in that regard, the brutal actions of the Spanish police towards people expressing what they consider to be their democratic right should be abhorred by all of us who are democrats, that is, everyone in this House. I support what Senator Higgins has said. Cool heads must prevail at this point and the Government must urge both the Spanish authorities and our European Union colleagues to make whatever contribution they can to ensuring that the future of Spain as a polity is a democratic one. What we saw at the weekend was that the authoritarian forces that many in this Chamber will remember prevailing in decades past in Spain are clearly not too far from the surface, and this is an absolute tragedy.

My sympathies and those of my Labour Party colleagues go to the family members of the dozens of people murdered and the hundreds maimed while simply attending a musical event in Las Vegas a few short days ago. It is a constant source of bafflement to me and to Senator Lawless, who has more experience of living and running a business in the United States, that there is still such a huge reluctance to deal with this massive problem which occurs, unfortunately, far too often and results in the senseless taking of far too many innocent lives. While the United States likes to identify itself as a beacon of freedom and civilisation, when one looks at its attitude to gun laws one must ask if it really deserves that label if it cannot do a basic thing like controlling its gun laws to protect the lives of those who deserve the protection of the State. I ask that question advisedly.