I came across some very wise words in recent days. I will read the quotation:

It is not the new inventions which are the difficulty. The trouble is caused by unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were old and outworn machinery.

They would have religion thrown aside, morality in personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint. [...] Today we need a special kind of courage, not the kind needed in battle but a kind which makes us stand up for everything that we know is right, everything that is true and honest. We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics so that we can show the world that we are not afraid of the future.

That quotation did not come from Pope Francis or Jordan Peterson or any of the other great philosophers of our time. It came from Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message in 1957. It struck me how remarkably fresh those words seem at a time when there is so much frustration, fractiousness, fratricidal conflict in some places, and fear of the future in our culture. Something of that vision is needed and I do not think one has to be a British subject or a monarchist to feel a certain sadness at the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a part of all our lives because we knew who she was and saw her for so many years. With her passing we lose some little bit of ourselves and we are reminded that death and letting go is a part of life. Certainly, however, her faithful service to her country and devotion to her duty was exemplary in so many people's eyes.

I support what Senator Boylan said about the dangers of the hard right, but we do not talk enough about the dangers of the hard left. Both are threats to democracy in our country. I will be talking to the House about an initiative of my own next week to try to promote interest in democracy and our processes among young people. I would agree as well that we need to be very careful about social media. I think a Member of this House has been the subject of a false accusation about something she is alleged to have retweeted on social media. We need to protect ourselves and seek fairness in all our dealings.

I have one brief word of criticism for Senator Boylan. I hear now very often the Sinn Féin-----

Through the Chair, please.

I will finish with this. I refer to the use of the quotation "trans rights are human rights". I am sure I agree with that if I could be sure what it fully means. I hear it used almost with the same frequency that politicians fob in at Leinster House. I worry that we must not just seek political success through the use of slogans. We have to try to interrogate the issues carefully-----

People's lives are not open to negotiation.

-----to interrogate the issues carefully-----

People’s existence is not up for negotiation.

Senator Mullen without interruption, please.

I am sorry, but the Senator cannot debate people's right to exist.

These are children we are talking about.

This is the Order of Business unless Senator Boylan wants to interrupt through Standing Orders.

I will just finish my last sentence to all sides. We need to interrogate the issues with care and compassion with a search for truth and seek to distinguish between the things that are inalienable human rights and those that are claims that may be contestable or that may be subject to debate. That is our role in here, not the constant repetition of phrases which cause more confusion than clarity.