International Relations
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
============================================================

Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

I thank both Deputies. The naming of this road was raised before by Deputies Heneghan and Ward, as well as by other Deputies. My understanding is that the OPW engaged on this but I am happy to engage with it further to see whether there are different options available. The point is how we commemorate and acknowledge that relationship and connection. I know there are familial connections, such as with the O'Connell family and others. We have launched our new strategic framework, and it is about finding a way within those actions to commemorate that individual.
Beyond that, however, there is a huge amount of work in this document. It is important to progress it from an economic, energy, cultural and international perspective. I am happy to engage with Deputy Ward on his proposal. As he said, it is the only time I have ever given a full speech in French, which I am very proud of. At the same time, we do not have full status or engage as regularly or in the same way as other countries. I am happy to explore that with the Deputy further.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01