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Senator Mark Daly: Tomorrow is the anniversary of the First Dáil and the beginning of the War of Independence. The First Dáil met in the Round Room of the Mansion House with 27 Members present and 35 Members in jail. Those were challenging times.

These are also challenging times. We would do well to recall the founding principles of the first Dáil to give every child the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential in a free nation, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth. We need to find our way back to these principles.

Today also marks the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech in which he advised us: “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Senator Jerry Buttimer: Would the Senator do it now for the country?

Senator Mark Daly: When he addressed the Dáil in 1963, he quoted the following from George Bernard Shaw:

Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not?

We should remember the principles of the first Dáil today as we try to find a way to give all of the children of the nation the opportunity to pursue the happiness to which they are entitled. It is a reflection on this and the other House that the events I describe will go unmarked.