Seanad report: Mr David Norris (Ind) complained that there was "a certain sneering tone" in the comments of some members about the engagement of Prince Charles to Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles.
He wondered if people realised how that might be regarded in the sister isle or in the North of Ireland. "We were always cosying up to the North, saying how nice we wanted to be to Unionists. Let's really show it then," he said.
He believed that any decent person would wish these two people happiness.
On the previous day, the House had debated the tabloidisation of news and this couple had been real victims of it. "We should be supporting them against people like Rupert Murdoch and the Sun."
Those involved in the so-called Cammillagate tapes affair should have been jailed for listening in to a private conversation, he added.
Mrs Parker-Bowles had behaved with great dignity over that episode. Prince Charles, an intelligent, decent man, was a friend of this country, where he had been made welcome.
He had visited here and had been very gracious despite the fact that his great uncle had been blown to smithereens by the armed wing of a political party with members in the other House of the Oireachtas, most of whose activists, like their leaders, were, unlike Prince Charles, descendants of the Cromwellian planters.
This could be seen by looking at their names. On the other hand, the prince was a direct descendant of Hugh O'Neill and Brian Ború.
Earlier, Mr Brendan Ryan (Lab) said that the more he watched the peculiarities of the British royal family, the "gladder" he was that this country was an independent republic.
Mr Norris: "Absolute rubbish. Take the beam out of your own eye." Mr Ryan responded that the College of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity could always be expected to defend the old order.
Claiming that "Comrade Ryan" had an inferiority complex, Mr Norris said that Trinity College was open to mature students.
"I expect he might qualify, and he'll get the tie after four years," he added to loud laughter.
Mr Joe O'Toole (Ind) said he was sure that Mr Kevin Myers and Dr Edward Walsh would be very pleased to see that two very high-profile single parents on the other island had taken steps to reduce the number of lone parents. He believed that members should congratulate them on their decision to tie the knot.
The apology by Irish Times columnist Kevin Myers for comments he made on single mothers was welcomed on both sides of the House. Noting that it was a full apology, Mr O'Toole said he thought that the matter had been dealt with. "It's over and we should accept the apology in the spirit in which it was offered."
Mr John Dardis (PD), deputy Government Leader in the House, said it was important that members acknowledge the fact that the Irish Times, in a leading article, and the "Irishman's Diary" column of Mr Myers, had tendered a complete apology.
However, Mr Myers had shown himself to be detached from reality by his statement that he genuinely believed that the word "bastard" had no stigma attached to it.
The Leader of the House, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, said that Mr Myers had been most contrite in his apology and this had been reflected in the editorial in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times. "Hopefully, that was the end of the matter," she added.