THE new senator, Mr Sam McAughtry, was introduced to the Cathaoirleach, Mr Liam Naughten, and took his seat in the House where he was warmly welcomed by all groups.
Mr McAughtry was elected to the industrial and commercial panel to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the fonder Cathaoirleach, Mr Sean Fallon.
The leader of the House, Mr Maurice Manning, and successive speakers, said Mr McAughtry's first day in the chamber was particularly significant.
On the first real day of spring and a day when the peace process, happily and thankfully, is back on the rails and revitalised, it is particularly significant that we have an opportunity to welcome Sam McAughtry as a member of Seanad Eireann.
"He comes from a community which should have a voice in this House."
Mr G.Wright, leader of the Fianna Fail group, said Mr McAughtry was the latest in a list of distinguished writers who had been members of the Seanad, including W.B.Yeats and Oliver St John Gogarty.
"We look forward to Senator McAughtry's contributions. I am sure they will be characterised by his wit, humour and sense of justice.
"In Sean Fallon, the man he is replacing, he will also have a hard act to follow".
Dr Mary Henry (Ind) said Mr McAughtry's "tremendous in sight" into a part of Northern Ireland had never really been represented in the House before. "And if debates become somewhat tedious and difficult, perhaps he will take out his book, Play it Again, Sam, and read us some extracts which are most informative about life in Northern Ireland".
Ms Jan O'Sullivan, the leader of the Labour group, said they looked forward to the contributions from the Northern senator who "speaks his mind with honesty, experience and wit". In the months ahead "we will need to hear individual voices of unionism, because there is not just one voice".
Mr John Dardis, leader of the Progressive Democrats group, said it was important that a distinctive voice of Northern Ireland, which had been absent since the death of Mr Gordon Wilson, would again be heard.
Replying, Mr McAughtry said that he was "somewhat of a hybrid unionist in that I am happy to live in the United Kingdom and am happier still to be Irish and proclaim my Irishness.
"I said when I was elected that my dearest wish was to see this island inhabited by five million Irish people living in two jurisdictions with consent and with the institutions established to emphasise their Irishness. I have urged for some time that we could negotiate as Irish people to Irish people."
Mr McAughtry said there were certain things he would not be speaking on. To laughter, he added "For example, I am still trying to work out the ramifications of the beef tribunal."
"My background is Labour and the issues that would interest a Labour man in any jurisdiction, North or South, will interest me."
Since his election more people than ever had been asking him "how will it all end?"
"They have been saying that for 25 years, but a lot more often now. My reply is, I do not know."