Madam, - Senator Eugene Regan was correct to point to the farcical scenario that occurred when the Intoxicating Liquor Bill was passed in the Seanad last week (Seanad Report, July 11th). The fact that senators Dan Boyle and Mark Daly, as Government senators, withdrew support for their own proposed amendments was highly cynical. It is also a further example of the rigidity of the Government parliamentary party whip.
There needs to be a strong cross-party debate on this, as it is preventing an element of bipartisanship that would be beneficial to the Oireachtas. The vote on this Bill could have been designated a free vote by the Government.It was a matter key to the ethos of Fianna Fáil or the Green Party, as the putting forward of proposed amendments by senators Boyle and Daly demonstrates.
Another recent example was the Victim's Rights Bill proposed by Alan Shatter and Charles Flanagan. Instead of the possibility of this being co-sponsored by the Government, we observed the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, attempting to upstage the Opposition by putting forward similar proposals in a press conference. This is not good parliamentary etiquette, but is considered perfectly acceptable practice by the Government.
Last week's farce highlights again that our Senate is far removed from the US Senate, where, for example, the conservative Republican Senator John McCain can co-operate with the liberal Democrat Senator Edward Kennedy on certain matters, much to the benefit of US democracy. - Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNEDY,
Knocknashee,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.