Norris makes impassioned plea for peace in Palestine in final speech to Seanad

Long-time senator and gay rights campaigner David Norris has delivered an impassioned plea for peace in Palestine in his final speech the Seanad.

Mr Norris is retiring after 36 years in Leinster House and he used his last opportunity to speak on the floor to advocate for peace.

He told the Seanad: “What is happening to the inhabitants of Gaza is appalling and cannot be allowed to continue.

“Man’s inhumanity to man is our greatest shame and I have to say also that it goes completely against the Jewish ethic which is L’Chaim – to life.”

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He criticised the Israeli government led by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying it has instead of to life, it has committed to “to death in overwhelming numbers for the unfortunate, trapped citizens of Gaza.

“I deplore it completely,” the 79-year-old added. He urged Seanad colleagues to “to continue to continue to push for peace in our times.”

[ David Norris’s life in politics: ‘People had the idea that gay people are monstrous. I wanted them to see the human’ ]

Mr Norris also used the speech to voice his support for Yes votes in the upcoming referendums on the family and care.

The care referendum includes a proposal to delete the controversial “women in the home” language in the Constitution.

Mr Norris said: “It is important that [the referendums] succeed.

“Even though I will be retired, I will be to the best of my ability, campaigning for their success.”

There was a standing ovation from other Senators who then began paying tribute to their departing colleague.

Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Jerry Buttimer read out sections of letters of tribute to Mr Norris from President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

He said Mr Higgins predicted his legacy will be “as a champion of equality and diversity” who will continue to inspire future generations.

He noted that the President also acknowledged Senator Norris’s “pride in our nation’s rich heritage that you fostered through your love, care and performance of and devoted passion for James Joyce”.

Mr Buttimer added: “I know that the House will agree with the President’s aspiration and hope that you will have a well-deserved rest in the knowledge that your work has helped to make Ireland a better place for all.”

He said that Mr Varadkar highlighted Senator Norris’s work on human rights, LGBT people, women and minorities saying that “in your campaigns you showed true leadership standing for causes that were unpopular and poorly understood but above all appealing to our best instincts as human beings: kindness, compassion, tolerance and acceptance”.

He said that the Taoiseach noted how there are now three members of Cabinet who are openly gay.

Independent Senator Michael McDowell spoke of the senator’s “immense courage” in taking on the Ireland’s anti-homosexuality law.

“Courage was one of the hallmarks of David Norris’s contribution to Irish public life but it’s always been done with a sense of fun and a sense of irreverence and he doesn’t take himself all that seriously,” he said.

Senator Norris, a one-time presidential candidate, is the current longest serving senator, a position known as Father of the House.

He was the founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform and was the first openly gay person elected to public office in Ireland.

He is credited as being instrumental in the abolition of Ireland’s anti-homosexuality law following a campaign involving court cases that lasted for more than 14 years. The law was finally overturned in 1993.

Senator Norris plans to split his time between Cyprus and Dublin during his retirement.

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