People who strongly opposed the planned Orange Order march in Dublin in May should be reminded that they were entitled to walk freely to Bodenstown each year, said Mr John Dardis (PD), deputy Government leader in the House.
He found it strange that people were making comparisons with the Garvaghy Road and what might happen in Dublin - it was an invidious comparison.
It was a pity that Orangemen and women did not come to the Republic more often - they would see there was no threat to them. "I think the best example of that was in Lansdowne Road when Ulster won the European rugby cup," he added.
Mr Maurice Manning (FG) complimented the Lord Mayor of Dublin on her decision to invite the Order to hold a march in the city. We were a great people down here for talking about tolerance and diversity of culture, but our track record had not been all that great, he said.
Bigoted voices had been heard as late as yesterday: a DUP Ballymena representative defending their refusal to agree to confer a civic honour on actor Liam Neeson, and a Sinn Fein councillor implicitly threatening the Orange Order if it went ahead with its Dublin march.
"I think the decision of the Lord Mayor gives all of us an opportunity to put into practice what we preach so frequently in this House, the tolerance of all traditions and cultures on this island," Mr Manning said.
Mr Michael Lanigan (FF) said the Orange Order had been a bigoted organisation in the past.
Those on both sides of the Border should take into account what the Pope had said in Bethlehem about the necessity for people to shed fear to achieve human unity. The proposed Orange parade could be an occasion on which the "don't be afraid" syndrome should predominate over a more negative sentiment.
As many as 300 Orangemen from Ireland, England and Scotland are expected to be in Dawson Street for the event on May 28th to mark the bi-centenary of the founding of the Grand Orange Lodge in Ireland.
The plan is being opposed, though, by Sinn Fein members of Dublin City Council, who have called for a special meeting to consider the concept.
The party has based its objections on the continuing stand-off between the Orange Order and nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road where an Orange march along the organisation's chosen route has been banned.
Mr Larry O'Toole, of Sinn Fein, said that the Lord Mayor asking the Orange Order to Dublin was "like inviting the Ku Klux Klan to march in Alabama".