Expressions of sympathy on the deaths of former Deputies Mark Clinton, Colm Hilliard and Jim Tunney shall be taken now and the Order of Business proposals shall be taken on the completion of the expressions of sympathy.
Death of Former Members: Expressions of Sympathy.
Are these arrangements agreed? Agreed. In respect of former Deputy Mark Clinton, the Taoiseach will defer to Deputy Noonan to make the initial statement.
Mark Clinton was a much loved member of Fine Gael who made an enormous contribution to Irish public life at local and national level and later at European level. His death is a great loss not only to his wife and family, but to the Irish public as a whole. He was first and foremost a hard-working representative of his constituents whether in Dublin County Council, Dáil Éireann or the European Parliament. For most of us Mark Clinton's major national contribution was within the period 1973 to 1977 when he was Ireland's Minister for Agriculture during the formative early years of our membership of the then EEC.
His commitment to Irish farming, his very detailed knowledge of all aspects of farming, his ability as a skilled European negotiator and his sheer determination made possible what is now recognised to have been a golden period in Irish agriculture. Under his expert guidance milk output increased by 33%, cattle output by 11% and agricultural output by 15%. In the late 1970s, drawing on his European experience, he set his sights further afield and enjoyed a new lease of political life in the European Parliament where he passionately advocated the interests of Irish farmers and defended the European Common Agricultural Policy. The esteem in which he was held, particularly by the Irish farming community, was shown in his re-election to the European Parliament in 1984.
There are many aspects of Mark Clinton's life, however, that are not as well known as those I have mentioned. GAA fans will remember him as a gifted Meath footballer at all levels, including the senior team. He was an accomplished horseman and hunted as often as he could. He also owned a number of horses which won at many point-to-point meetings and won jumping compe titions at shows all over Ireland. For many years he served on hospital boards and made a very important contribution to improving hospitals and the health services. This work was entirely voluntary and included membership and holding the chair of boards of virtually every major Dublin hospital south of the Liffey.
That typified the generosity and community spirit of Mark Clinton; he rolled up his sleeves, got down to the job and did what he could for the wider community to which he belonged. On behalf of Fine Gael, and indeed of the wider public, I express our deepest sympathy to his widow, Dorothy, his sons, Joe, Mark, Richard and David, his daughters, Paula and Olivia and his sisters, Sadie and Olive. The community's loss is great; his family's loss is greatest of all. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis.
On behalf of the Fianna Fáil party and on my own behalf I extend my deepest sympathy to Deputy Noonan and the Fine Gael party on the death of Mark Clinton on 23 December 2001. Mark was born in Moynalty, County Meath in February 1915. He was the eldest son of a farmer and was educated by the Christian Brothers at Kells, at Warrenstown Agricultural College and at University College, Dublin, where he acquired his qualification in agricultural science. He worked for a time in England with the Harry Ferguson company on the development of the famous Ferguson tractor. He returned to Ireland and was appointed as farm manager in the Peamount estate in Newcastle, which is where I first remember him. He developed a large dairy herd there. Mark was also a very keen footballer and he played in the 1939 All-Ireland Final against Kerry.
I wish to acknowledge his long and distinguished career in the public service. He became a Dublin county councillor in 1955 and served on many committees and boards up to 1973. He was elected to the Dáil on his first attempt in 1961 and was re-elected in successive general elections until he stood down in 1981 to concentrate on a career in the European Parliament. He was one of the first directly elected representatives. He retained his seat in 1984 and served as an MEP for ten years. He became Vice President of the European Parliament.
He was Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the 1973-77 Government. He served with distinction as a Deputy, a Minister and latterly as an MEP. As Minister for Agriculture he was widely regarded as having played a key role in the development of Irish agriculture at the beginning of our period in the EEC. He was a guardian of Irish interests in Europe at a critical time in the evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy.
I join with Deputy Noonan and the Members of the House in extending our sympathy to his wife, Dorothy, his sons, Joe, Mark, Richard and David, his daughters, Paula and Olive and his sisters, Sadie and Olive. I extend the sympathies of the Fianna Fáil party to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
On behalf of the Labour Party I wish to extend to the Fine Gael party and to the Clinton family our sympathies and condolences on the death of Mark Clinton. I remember Mark Clinton in this House. I came in as a Senator in 1976 and I recall him until he retired from this House, though not from politics, in 1981. He was an old-style traditional gentleman politician, very courteous and very considerate of new Members. He was very attentive to the lack of experience that new Members had in this House. That gentleness concealed a toughness and a breadth of knowledge that he brought to the service of his party, his constituents and in particular to farmers. Deputy Noonan is correct in saying that he presided over a golden age for Irish agriculture. It moved from a period of very low prices because of the common food policy, or the cheap food policy, of the United Kingdom into which we had been locked for so many decades. The opening from that to the Common Agricultural Policy transformed the face of rural Ireland. Many farmers, and in particular many farming homesteads, can point to the dramatic improvement in the quality of their housing during that period. For the first time since the 1920s rural life in particular and agriculture in general experienced a wealth of productivity and high prices never previously enjoyed. Mark Clinton will be forever associated with that period. To his wife, Dorothy, and to his large family, I extend our sympathies on this sad occasion.
I wish to join with the Taoiseach and with Deputies Noonan and Quinn in extending my sympathy and that of the Progressive Democrats to the late Mark Clinton's wife, Dorothy, his family and the Fine Gael party. I have known Mark Clinton for a considerable length of time. He was a neighbour of mine in Newcastle, he was the farm manager of Peamount Hospital and he was a Deputy and a member of Dublin County Council for many years. He was widely respected and had enormous integrity. As Deputy Quinn said, he presided over the Department of Agriculture during one of the most successful periods for farming. Following our entry to the European Community, Mark Clinton was the Minister for Agriculture. On one occasion he withdrew from a Council of Ministers' meeting when he found that he could not agree to a proposal. To his credit the proposal was subsequently withdrawn.
Mark Clinton died after a long illness. He had been ill for the last number of years. He was well regarded in the community even by those of a different political persuasion. To his wife, Dorothy, his sons, Joe, Mark, Richard and David, and his daughters, Paula and Olivia, I extend my sympathy. He will be sadly missed not just in Newcastle, Rathcoole and south-west Dublin, but also as a loss to Ireland and to Irish politics. At one time he was mooted as a possible successor to Liam Cosgrave. He was highly regarded and despite his toughness he was a very gentle person. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Thar cheann mo pháirti fhéin, An Comhantas Glas, ba mhaith liomsa comhbhrón a dhéanamh le páirtí Fhine Ghael and agus le muintir Mark Clinton, a bhean chéile, Dorothy, a mhic agus a iníonacha. I have no doubt that many people will remember the name Clinton as being synonymous with Irish agriculture. Although I did not know Mark Clinton personally, I recall that when growing up I heard the name Mark Clinton on the radio in debates and campaigns dealing with farming and agriculture. For many of us growing up at that time, the name Clinton was as well known as many of the names of farming products being advertised on the radio. His name goes into the vocabulary of Irish farming, representing an era in the 1970s of Ireland becoming a part of the European Community. For those who knew him personally, his death is a much greater loss, and I extend my sympathy to them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
I do not wish to add to the recital of Mark Clinton's qualities. I remember him principally as one of my closest personal friends in politics. He was somebody who looked after my interests in the early part of my political career, even to the point of coming to public dances in the old hall in Dunboyne. One would not usually expect a member of the front bench to do that for somebody who was not even elected to anything at that stage. I am proud to say as a Meath Deputy that he was proud of his Meath roots. He was on the first Meath team to make it to the All-Ireland Final of 1939. He was a truly great and courageous footballer and his character was shaped on the football field. He was a man who played fairly but with great strength. He was steeped in the political tradition of north Meath. His uncle, Justin McKenna, was a Sinn Féin Deputy at the time of the foundation of the State. His brothers and family have continued to serve the people.
He was a spokesman on various subjects for his party besides agriculture. He was a spokesman on defence at one stage and one of his sons joined the Army, inspired by his father's sense of the importance of those services to the nation. As Deputy Noonan has said, he was a man who led many different lives in the course of one lifetime. In addition to being a very successful politician, he was an extremely effective manager of an important part of the health services. He was not simply a farm manager in Peamount; he actually managed Peamount in all its non-medical aspects. Because of his effectiveness he won great respect for that work and standards achieved in Peamount were imitated elsewhere. With the help of his family he bore a very long illness with great dignity. It is important that he has been remembered so eloquently by so many on this occasion.
I would also like to be associated with the expressions of sympathy for Mr. Mark Clinton's widow and family and also their extended family in north Meath. Mr. Clinton came from the village of Moynalty seven miles from Kilmainhamwood. Uniquely, both he and my father were elected to this House on the same day in 1961 where they worked on behalf of the people of Ireland, County Meath and the constituency Mr. Clinton represented in Dublin. When he went to Brussels he did so as an Irishman with negotiating skills of distinction. Everyone in Ireland remembers the authority he had over his brief as Minister for Agriculture.
Later, when I became a Member of this House in 1981, I had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament as a member of a number of delegations. As a Member of the European Parliament, Mr. Clinton was able to enlighten us on how to get the best possible results from our negotiations. The people of Ireland, particularly the agricultural community, will remember him as the person who laid the foundation of the most strident development that has taken place in agriculture since the 1940s or even earlier through his excellent negotiating skills.
I would like to be associated with these expressions of sympathy and extend my sympathies to Dorothy, his immediate and extended family in County Meath.
As a Member who had the privilege of working with the late Mark Clinton in the old constituency of Dublin West when it included parts of north Kildare, I got to know him extremely well. He was a very kind and caring man. He was a hard hitting and tough public representative who believed strongly in the right to represent his constituents to the very best of his ability at all times which he did with great courage and distinction. Like other speakers, I would like to be associated with the tributes being paid to him today.
Fianna Fáil and the people of County Meath lost a great friend and servant with the death of Mr. Colm Hilliard with whom I had the pleasure of serving during all his years in this House. On behalf of Fianna Fáil and the Government, I express my sincere condolences to the Hilliard family, his widow, Margie, and children, Kevin, Fergus, Ursula and Dara. I also extend my sympathies to his many friends and supporters in the Fianna Fáil organisation and beyond in County Meath.
Mr. Hilliard was a dedicated public servant whose life was all about helping his constituents and being involved in the things he enjoyed. During his 15 years as a Member of the Dáil and many years as a member of Meath County Council he set an example of public service. He was always a vigorous defender of the interests of his native county. He was especially concerned for Navan and its people. His constant lobbying ensured the concerns of County Meath and Navan, in particular, were always heard.
Mr. Hilliard was born into Fianna Fáil and politics. His father, Michael, had been a long serving Dáil Deputy and served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and for Defence. It was a proud tradition that he inherited and upheld during his political life. Much of his political work was behind the scenes. He was a long-standing member of County Meath VEC and during the last Dáil was proud to chair the Joint Services Committee on which he worked hard on behalf of his fellow Members of the Oireachtas to modernise facilities in Leinster House to ensure staff and Members could do their jobs effectively.
Mr. Hilliard was also very proud to be a long-serving secretary of the Oireachtas golf society, a role in which he continued after his retirement from the Dáil in 1997. Golf was one of his passions. Every time I met him in recent years he was either playing or about to play golf. It is not surprising to any of us that he played four times in the week he died. Out of genuine concern for the welfare of his fellow Members of the House, he always took the trouble to organise social events and golf outings, in particular, which won him many friends on all sides of the House. Like Mr. Mark Clinton, his other great interest was the GAA. His allegiance to O'Mahony Gaels in Navan was underlined by the fact that the club jersey was the only decoration on his coffin.
Mr. Hilliard was a quiet and sincere man, but could be anything but quiet when he got annoyed as I remember from my period as party Whip. He worked hard for the people who elected him and earned the respect and affection of his colleagues, friends and all who mourn him. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
I express the sympathy of my party to the Fianna Fáil Party on the death of Mr. Colm Hilliard. In particular, I express our sympathy to his widow, Margie, and his four children. He was a very well liked and respected Deputy who served County Meath and Dáil Éireann for 15 years. He also served on Meath County Council and many of its sub-committees, including the Meath committee of agriculture, on which he served with particular distinction. He died young, at 65 years of age, having retired in 1997. He did not have a long retirement, but I know he enjoyed it, by continuing as secretary of the Oireachtas golf committee and enjoying his GAA and other sporting activities. I pay tribute to him for his involvement in the retired Oireachtas Members association, in which he was one of the driving forces. His retired colleagues will remember his as much his colleagues still serving in Dáil Éireann. Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I extend our sympathies to the Hilliard family and the Fianna Fáil Party on the sad and sudden loss of Mr. Colm Hilliard with whom I worked in this House. I served on the Joint Services Committee, which he chaired for a number of years and in whose work, as the Taoiseach said, he was very enthusiastically involved during difficult times. He had a great passion for this House and its Members. His engagement with the golfing society of the Oireachtas and also the retired Members association of the House was an indication of his concern for Members and the issues of interest to them. To coin a phrase, he did not get it from a stone. His father was elected to the House in 1943 and retired in 1973. Politics was, therefore, in his blood. On behalf of the Labour Party, I extend our sympathies to his widow, Margaret, and children.
I join the Taoiseach and other party leaders in extending my sympathy and that of the Progressive Democrats to Margie Hilliard and her family and the Fianna Fáil Party. It was hard to believe that Mr. Colm Hilliard had retired. He seemed to be around Leinster House so much in recent years and on many occasions was in touch with my office in relation to matters in the Meath constituency. He had a great enthusiasm and energy for politics. He was a very warm and generous person. As others have said, he was a great golf enthusiast, having been secretary of the Oireachtas golfing society. His sudden death at a very young age surprised us all. I worked very closely with him when he first came into politics and he showed enormous courage in the early 1980s. As Deputy Quinn said, politics was in his blood, in his genes, but notwithstanding this he was a person of great integrity. May he rest in peace.
Is buille mór do Chontae na Mí bás Colm Hilliard. Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh len a bhean chéile Margie agus len a cheathrar clainne. In the time I knew him Mr. Colm Hilliard shone as one of life's gentlemen. The quiet confidence he displayed was inspiring and he had a strong loyalty to his party. He was able to uphold that and, at the same time, he was civil, generous with his time and friendly with others outside his party, a quality which although it may be taken for granted is not easy to emulate. I value the friendship I had with Colm Hilliard and the time I spent in his company. He will be deeply missed, particularly as he was so young and active. It is difficult to imagine him not being around anymore. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
I join with the party leaders in expressing sympathy to the wife and family of Colm Hilliard who was a colleague of mine not just in this House but also on Meath County Council. We shared a county council electoral area for many years and had many internal battles. At times those battles can be even more ferocious than those with Members opposite. I express my sympathy and the sympathy of the people of Meath to Colm's family. "Diligence" was a word used again and again about Colm who became something of a legend when first elected in 1982. From 1982 until 1987, he covered the entire Meath constituency holding up to 40 clinics per month.
Forty-one to be precise, more than the rest of us put together.
Clinics were held in every part of the constituency; the current situation is perhaps a little bit more civilised.
The Hilliard family had a long political tradition. Colm and his father served the people of Meath for almost 60 years, with the exception of a small gap between 1973 and 1979. Colm's tenacity was well known. He was highly respected for the fact that once he took up a cause, he stayed with it right to the end. I join with everybody here in expressing my condolences to Marjorie, Kevin, Fergus, Dara and Ursula. Colm will be a loss to the constituency.
I join with other speakers in expressing sympathy to the Hilliard family – Marjorie, Kevin, Fergus, Dara and Ursula – on this sad occasion. Colm retired from Leinster House while still young and had only been retired for a few years when he died suddenly following a game of golf. Many speakers have noted that he remained very involved in Leinster House through the golfing society and continued to come here after his retirement. Other Members have used words like "courage" and "integrity" to describe Colm which speak volumes about the man. As colleagues we found him to be extremely honest, honourable and very straight in all his dealings with us. He was our whip on Meath County Council and was very honest and fair to all of us. He spent 15 years in Leinster House and 20 years on Meath County Council and he served the people very well. He worked extremely hard for the people of Meath. I am saddened that he died at such a young age. May he rest in peace.
Colm Hilliard was a politician who reached across the political boundaries in his constituency as well as here in Leinster House. That was very much in character with his father Michael who did not enter politics until the Civil War was long over because he did not feel it was something of which he wanted to be part. He was a reconciling figure, as was Colm. Colm was a warm-hearted person who felt things deeply. He felt pain when he was attacked but he also felt the pain of others although he could equally share in their successes. I speak from personal experience when I say he was a man of exceptional generosity. The words that have been spoken about him by his party colleagues and others are absolutely sincere.
I would like to be associated with the vote of sympathy to Marjorie and the Hilliard family. Colm was elected to Meath County Council, of which I was then a member, in 1979 and to Dáil Éireann in 1982. He certainly served the people of County Meath without fear or favour. One thing for which we all remember him, especially in Meath County Council, was estimates meetings. He was the nightmare of every manager because he would often hold up meetings for up to two hours querying figures and changes. He was correct in doing what he did because he believed in ensuring that full accountability was the order of the day. I had an excellent relationship with Colm Hilliard as had many others in this House. He wore the Navan O'Mahony's jersey in both football and hurling and did so with the same enthusiasm with which he represented the people of Meath. Since his untimely death, many people have said to me that he was a decent man and that sums him up very well.
I, too, want to be associated with the vote of sympathy to the Hilliard family. Colm served in this House for 15 years and I was very honoured to retain his seat for Fianna Fáil. I served with Colm on Meath County Council for 20 years. His sudden and untimely death came as a great shock to everybody in County Meath. Colm was an excellent and dedicated constituency politician who was deeply committed to those most in need. His honesty and integrity were second to none. He served the people of Meath with distinction at local and national level and will be sadly missed by his family, political and sporting colleagues and everybody in the county. To his wife Marjorie, his daughter Ursula, his sons Kevin, Fergus and Dara and his sisters and brothers, I offer my deepest sympathy.
Polaiteoir céimiúil, croíúil ab ea Jim Tunney. Níor chaill sé ariamh an díogras a bhí aige chun obair go dian ar son na ndaoine a thogh é agus ar son Fhianna Fáil. Ba Ghaeilgeoir é a rinne a dhícheall ar son a theanga agus ar son dul chun cinn na Gaeilge. Nuair a bhí sé ina Aire Stáit sa Roinn Oideachais thosaigh sé ag obair chun ollscoil a bhunú i dtuaisceart na cathrach. Bhunaigh sé Cospóir, mar d'aithnigh sé freisin an pháirt lárnach a ghlacann spórt i saol na ndaoine. Ghlac sé páirt mhór i bhforbairt eacnamaíochta agus shoisialta Bhaile Átha Cliath agus na tíre go léir agus is ceart duinn ár mbuíochas a ghabháil leis, as ucht an tseirbhís a thug sé do phoball na hÉireann le linn a shaoil.
Jim Tunney was a distinguished politician and parliamentarian who was deeply committed to the well-being of Finglas where he was born and reared. His devotion to his constituents was surpassed only by his devotion to and love for Kathleen, his wife and their four children, Seán, Jim, Angela and Orla. My thoughts and those of my colleagues are with them at this time.
Jim was born in Finglas, County Dublin in December 1923 and was first elected to this House in 1969 for the constituency of Dublin North-West. He served two terms as Leas-Cheann Comhairle. As a young civil servant he studied for a teaching degree at night and, subsequently, became the principal of Blanchardstown vocational school. Jim placed the highest value on education. I was lucky to work with him and be elected to this House with him in 1977. For Jim Tunney, politics, education, the Irish language and sport were a seamless whole. For him, politics was a continuation of the classroom and another means of reaching one's potential, either individually or as a country. From the 1970s, and when he was a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, he championed the cause of Dublin City University and was proud that it became such a successful college.
Jim was passionate about the Irish language. Whenever he was in this House, as he was before Christmas, there were many people here with whom he could converse fluently in Irish. He was always delighted to speak Irish here and outside this House, including at GAA matches.
His interest in Irish culture did not stop with his love of the language. He was deeply involved in Gaelic games and played with Dublin county teams and was the holder of a junior All-Ireland medal. As Minister of State with responsibility for sport, he established Cospóir, a forerunner to the Sports Council. He was the first Minister with responsibility for sport to secure a capital budget of £5 million over three years. He was also deeply involved in Santry Stadium and in athletics. He was mainly interested in schools being able to use that facility to ensure young people would be able to play a part in athletics.
His participation in public affairs continued until the very end of his life. He was a member of St. Vincent's Home on the Navan Road and worked with people with a disability. He gave an enormous amount of his time to that organisation. He was also a member of the outgoing Bord na Gaeilge and subsequently a member of Foras na Gaeilge and worked on North-South matters. Prior to that he was very involved in the parliamentary forums and worked with our colleagues in Westminster. He loved the contacts he made through that.
Jim was a cosmopolitan. His dramatic speeches and sense of flair came from his days of working on the stage. He loved to emphasise his point. That made him one of the most recognised voices in politics on radio and television. His roles as Lord Mayor of Dublin, Leas-Cheann Comhairle and chairman of the Fianna Fáil Party meant that he was on his own world stage. He was chairman of the parliamentary party in difficult times – he did not have to do too much to get interviews and be on the national stage in those days.
Having lived quite near him, having been involved with him in the constituency and sharing with him a great interest in the GAA, I was a good friend of Jim Tunney. I was with him when he got ill on the Sunday before Christmas close to his home. We were having a cup of coffee when he became ill and was rushed to hospital, not to return home. He was a decent person. He loved this House. He loved politics. My last conversation with him was about this House, politics and hard work.
While we have spoken of all our colleagues who have passed away in the past few years, Mark Clinton, Colm Hilliard and Jim Tunney shared many interests in common. They all actively participated in the GAA and were all hardworking politicians, but more than anything else when they retired from politics they continued to be involved in it and gave an enormous amount of their personal time to matters out of an interest for their community and for which they did not get any resources. They came from a good generation. The three of them were different ages. A sign of the quality of people who go through this House is that they maintained an interest and a huge commitment to what went on in the outside world. That is a sign of the quality of people who go through this House. We should be proud of all three former Members in respect of whom we are expressing sympathy. Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh len a bhean chéile Kathleen agus len a chlann, Sean, Jim, Angela agus Orla. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a thairiscint ar son mo pháirtí don Taoiseach agus do mhuintir Fhianna Fáil ar bhás Jim Tunney. Bhí cúlra sa mhúinteoireacht aige agus bhí an-spéis aige le linn a shaoil phoiblí ar fad i gcúrsaí oideachais. Bhí an-spéis sa Ghaeilge aige freisin. Ba chainteoir líofa Ghaeilge é agus bhain sé úsáid as an Ghaeilge go minic. Bhí an-mheas aige ar an teanga.
Jim Tunney had a distinguished career as a Deputy, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Minister of State, Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Co-Chairman of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. He had friends on all sides of the House. He served here with great distinction and was missed when he retired from the House. We are sorry he did not enjoy his retirement for longer.
I would like to extend my sympathy to his wife, Kathleen, and to his family on behalf of myself and the Fine Gael Party.
On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to extend my sympathy to the Fianna Fáil Party on the loss of a treasured member of that party, a former chairperson of the parliamentary party and also to the Tunney family whom I know – Kathleen, Jim, Seán, Orla and Angela.
Jim Tunney was a larger than life character. I served with him on Dublin Corporation and after the formal sessions we had many long chats about different aspects of Irish culture. He had a great interest in dramatics, particularly amateur dramatics, an interest he shared with Frank Cluskey, who once famously said he only went professional in terms of the theatre when he got elected to this House. One would say that Jim Tunney also achieved that particular status. He will be immortalised in "Scrap Saturday", if nowhere else.
He was able to laugh at himself and at the vagaries of the human condition in which we all participate and share but, as the Taoiseach said and as was stated in the various obituaries, he made quite a considerable contribution to the development of this State in his periods in office. I have a personal reason to be grateful to him for the time he gave me when he was Minister of State at the Department of Education. He had cross-party respect and support and shared a sense of solidarity with people to whom he could be of help and assistance, which he certainly was in my case.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I would like to extend to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, the wider Fianna Fáil Party and the Tunney family our deepest condolences on this sad occasion.
I, too, would like to join the Taoiseach and the other party leaders in extending my sympathy to Kathleen Tunney and to the late Jim Tunney's family.
Jim Tunney had an old style elegance and charm which was quite unique. My memory of his chairmanship of the Fianna Fáil Party was somewhat different from the Taoiseach's. We crossed swords on many occasions, but notwithstanding that it was never personal. He was someone of whom I was genuinely very fond.
Shortly before Christmas I met him in a Dublin restaurant. He congratulated me on my new status and told me he had something he was going to send me. I expected to receive a publication that would tell me the duties of being a wife but instead I got a large orchid on Christmas Eve. It meant a lot because of Jim's association with flowers. The ever present flower in his buttonhole is something we will always remember. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to thank him personally for that.
At his funeral mass his son Seán said that his father was first and foremost a teacher and that he never stopped teaching. That is true. Even though he might not have had as many willing students as he thought, Jim never stopped giving one advice.
It is hard to believe he is gone because like Colm Hilliard he was always around this House. To his family in particular, Kathleen and his children, and to the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend my sympathy and that of the Progressive Democrats. He is a huge loss to the Fianna Fáil organisation and to the country.
Ba mhaith liomsa chomh maith comhbhrón a dhéanamh le bean chéile Jim Tunney, len a mhuintir, len a cháirde go léir – tá an-chuid acu ann – agus le Fianna Fáil. Bhí dlúth-bhaint aige leis an bpáirtí. Ba dhaoine spraoiúil agus taitneamhach é i gcónaí. Ba chara é chomh maith.
It is important to say that Jim Tunney gave an enormous amount to politics and made politics very accessible to many people. He brought a duty and a sense of entertainment to his work. He would have been the first to say that when one stops enjoying life one has got a serious problem. He showed how life could be enjoyed in politics. He was always in the best of form any time I met him.
It is important to recognise that his legacy here and on programmes such as "Scrap Saturday" will mean that he will be immortalised. I am sure there are not too many people around this House who have not, on some occasion, had a go at mimicking Jim Tunney because he was so distinctive, eloquent and unique and he had so much to contribute.
Ní raibh aon eagla air Gaeilge a labhairt ba chuma cén áit a raibh sé. Labhair sé amach í go hard agus go soiléir. Ba shampla é sin dúinn. Thug sé tosaíocht do roinnt mhaith daoine conas dul ar aghaidh i bpobal dátheangachl. Tá súil agam go leanfaidh an-chuid daoine an tosaíocht sin. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
I join in the tributes to Jim Tunney and the expressions of sympathy to his wife, Kathleen, and family. As a councillor, I shared a constituency with Jim, although our membership of this House did not overlap. When I was first elected a councillor, Jim Tunney was the Lord Mayor and, in everybody's opinion, he brought great style and dignity to that office. He was a much loved and respected public representative, particularly in the Finglas area of the constituency to which he was affectionately linked by the tag "the yellow rose of Finglas". He will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with his family.
Mar adúirt an tEaspog Ó Ceallaigh ag sochraid Jim, "tá laoch cródha, dílis ar lár". Muinteoir, aisteoir, polaiteoir ba ea Jim Tunney agus bhí an trí ghairm bheatha nasctha le chéile.
Like Deputy Ahern, I was elected to the city council in 1985 with Jim Tunney. He sometimes referred to me in endearing terms as his curate. He strode Finglas like a colossus. He represented the area superbly and made no secret of the fact that, all things else being equal, he looked after Finglas first. I last saw him in the Mansion House on the Saturday before Christmas and it was clear that he was not well. That night he recited the poem: "Anois teacht an Earraigh beidh an lá ag dul chun síneadh is taréis na Féile Bríde ardeoidh mé mo sheol". Bhí sé ag súil le dul go Contae Mhaigheo chun cluiche nó dhó ghailf a imirt len a mhuintir a bhí thíos ansin.
Jim took up golf with the same passion and enthusiasm as he followed Gaelic games. Unfortunately, as Kathleen said, he did not quite make it to Lá Féile Bríde. He espoused the cause of the Dublin City University or NIHE as it was formerly known. As vice-chairman of the Dublin VEC, he and Paddy Donegan of the Labour Party, who was chairman of the VEC, outwitted many a Minister for Education to ensure that NIHE was located in Albert College where it grew to become the world class university it is now. Bhí suim ar leith aige i gcúrsaí Gaeilge. Labhair sé an Ghaeilge gach uair ar bhuaileas leis. Mar bhall de Bhord na Gaeilge rinne sé sár-obair.
Jim was a superb co-chairman of the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body. In the early 1980s, before the peace process had even been thought of, the Fianna Fáil organisation celebrated Jim Tunney's 21st year as a Member of the House. In the Regency Hotel that night, representatives of the Unionist and Nationalist communities in Northern Ireland attended the dinner. Jim travelled many a back road forging links with small groups in minority and majority organisations in Northern Ireland.
I join Members in expressing my sympathy dá bhean, Kathleen, dá bheirt mhac Seán agus Jim agus dá bheirt iníon Aileen agus Orla. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Members rose.