Order of Business - 14th May 2008

Order of Business - 14th May 2008
Senator David Norris: I appreciate the Chair's decision to allow me to speak. I congratulate the former Senator, Deputy Mansergh, on being appointed as a Minister of State. The portfolio that has been allocated to him may appear to have been downgraded, but it is up to him to make it clear that is not the case. Perhaps he could do that by coming to this House at an early date to discuss some of the motions on the Order Paper, such as No. 4, which relates to the Abbey Theatre. The redevelopment of the theatre has been held up for a long time by the peculiar selfishness and greed of certain developers and the pusillanimous attitude of the central authorities in not dealing with and confronting the problem. There was a legal issue at stake, but it has apparently been resolved. The possibility that the Abbey Theatre, which is a national cultural institution, could be moved to the north end of O'Connell Street, which everybody agrees is the best place for it, is starting to open up again. The authorities gave up on that prospect too soon. I suggest that the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, should come to the House.
Senator Paul Coghlan: Hear, hear.
Senator David Norris: His appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for the arts is an interesting one. While it may appear that the position has been downgraded, I do not believe that is the case. This responsibility has been given to an active person who has been a senior advisor to many taoisigh and carries a great deal of weight at Government level.
While I share Senator Donohoe's concerns about the effect of certain works on St. Stephen's Green, we should look at the matter in a positive way. We should ask the Minister for Transport to come to the House to discuss this issue. Perhaps we will get an opportunity to do so in the context of the final section of the transport Bill. International practice has shown that it is quite possible to take up mature trees, tub them, maintain them and eventually replace them. We need a commitment that St. Stephen's Green, which is loved by Irish people, will be restored as it is.
I will conclude by speaking about the metro stations. I feel strongly that we are in danger of doing the usual Irish thing of spoiling the ship for a hap'orth of tar. The Dublin Port tunnel has been a considerable success in diverting articulated trucks away from the city centre. What have we done with it? We are not proud of it. We are ashamed of it. We have left it there in a hobbledehoy fashion. As I said in a letter to the newspapers, it looks like a bit of an old hoover that landed from outer space. If we were to spend approximately €150,000 to dress it up properly, we could make a statement about how proud we are of it.
Let us ensure that we will not have horrible, crude, exposed concrete in the metro stations. Let us use artefacts from the National Museum in recessed glass cases, like they do in the Louvre métro station in Paris. For God's sake, let us spend a little bit extra and be proud of our culture and city.