Round of golf was not the reason House did not sit, says Cassidy

SEANAD REPORT:SEANAD LEADER Donie Cassidysaid that under no circumstances had it been contemplated that the House would not sit because of a game of golf.

But David Norris(Ind) complained strongly that Mr Cassidy had failed to explain why the House had not sat last Tuesday.

"He has talked a lot of rubbish," Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgeraldsaid. She was outraged at the idea that there had been no sitting in order to facilitate a game of golf.

Many urgent issues needed to be debated, so it was unacceptable not to avail of every possible opportunity to do so.

Joe O'Toole(Ind) said Mr Cassidy should acknowledge that the House had been brought into disrepute in this regard. "I think we owe an apology to the people."

Phil Prendergast(Lab) said there should be serious reform of the Seanad "and behaviour like this certainly gives the very wrong idea".

Feargal Quinn(Ind) said that, as someone who had played golf last Tuesday, he did not believe there was a link between the match and the decision not to sit.

Marc MacSharry(FF) said he welcomed the new interest which the media was showing in the Seanad. It was to be hoped that there would be appropriate coverage of debates and not just the demeaning suggestion that "we were not here . . . because of golf".

It was disingenuous in the extreme of a media organisation like Independent News & Media to perpetrate such a criminal suggestion upon instruments of the State.

Mr Norris said he laughed heartily when he heard the claim about golf interfering with a sitting. He had felt like writing to Mr Cassidy asking, since they were obviously following the British Tory lead, “Could I have my wisteria clipped, my moat drained and my chandeliers cleaned?”

Mr Cassidy said that some time ago he had invited party and group leaders to discuss sitting arrangements. However, none of them had turned up for last week’s meeting. Moreover, there had been no objection from the other side of the House when the proposal had been put in the chamber that the adjournment be to yesterday. He and three Opposition members had taken part in the match and had played to honour former Oireachtas colleagues. This was done once a year.

*Speaking in the debate on the Adoption Bill, Minister for Children Barry Andrewssaid it was anticipated that further proposals to advance the discussions would be made to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the coming week. He was also hopeful that the Vietnamese side would be in a position to revert with its proposals shortly.

He did not wish to speculate on the timeframe or the outcome for these negotiations. There had been a high level of engagement on both sides and it was clear from progress so far that there was a willingness on both sides to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.