THE SON of a former Taoiseach may become the next Cathaoirleach of the Seanad. The Taoiseach has, with the agreement of other Government party leaders, nominated Mr Liam Cosgrave Jnr to fill the post left vacant by the tragic death of Mr Liam Naughten.
Making the announcement last night, Seanad Leader Mr Maurice Manning said that apart from Mr Cosgrave's personal qualities and proven track record, the Government's nominee would continue the honourable tradition of the Cosgrave family, who had contributed unstintingly to high public office since the foundation of the State.
The six independent members will play a crucial role in determining who fills the Chair. The Government currently has 27 members against a potential opposition of 32.
Fianna Fail has proposed that one of its leading members, Mr Brian Mullooly, the current leas cathaoirleach, should fill the vacancy. It was not clear last night whether the party would press for a vote or would accept that Mr Cosgrave should be elected unopposed next Wednesday.
A SECOND World War veteran told the Seanad yesterday that unionists were wrong to require from the IRA the same kind of total surrender demanded of Nazi Germany at the cost of a huge number of lives.
Mr Sam McAughtry (Ind) an RAF navigator on shipping and harbour attack missions during the war, urged that unionists be asked to rethink their policy on IRA arms decommissioning before allowing Sinn Fein into talks.
"Anyone with any military experience will appreciate that the unionists are asking for unconditional surrender. These are the terms that were asked of Nazi Germany in World War II. As a consequence of that decision, hundreds of thousands of lives were needlessly lost and Nazi Germany was reduced to rubble.
"Such thinking asks an army to walk out showing a white flag. Decommissioning has a place on the agenda, but top of the agenda is conflict resolution between the 15 per cent of Northern people who vote for Sinn Fein and the rest of Ireland."
Supporting Mr McAughtry's stand, Ms Jan O'Sullivan (Lab) said it was important to understand the other side's view and to reach a compromise. It was also important to ensure that extreme views did not prevail.
THE Government believed Israel must live up to its commitments in international instruments it had ratified, including the Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, a Minister assured the Seanad last night.
"We fully expect Israel to live up to its commitments in the international instruments and to the standards which it has freely set itself of a normal democratic society," said Minister of State, Mr Emmet Stagg.
The Minister was replying to Mr Tom Enright (FG), who spoke of the need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to raise concerns about the treatment of prisoners in Israel, particularly the recent Supreme Court decision there allowing detainees to be subjected to ill treatment by the police.
Mr Stagg said the Government was concerned over reports of ill treatment of prisoners in Israel, and in particular the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court that Secret Service investigators could use physical force in the questioning of a Palestinian detainee.
Mr Enright said this country had highlighted cases of abuse of prisoners in British jails. We had brought cases to the Court of Human Rights. This sort of behaviour could not be permitted in a country with which we had diplomatic relations.