Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 2

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.

The Taoiseach

In the midst of the general election campaign, an old political soldier passed away in his native Clare at the age of 76. The late Sylvester Barrett was held in high esteem by the community and people of County Clare whom he served in public life as a member of Dáil Éireann and the European Parliament. He inherited a rich tradition of public service and patriotism from his father, Frank, who had been commandant in the mid-Clare brigade of the Old IRA, and as a member of Clare County Council. Sylvester Barrett entered politics in 1968 on the occasion of a by-election caused by the death of Deputy Bill Murphy. He was elected in the general election of the following year and topped the poll for the revised constituency of Clare-South Galway. In 1977, he was appointed Minister for the Environment by Jack Lynch and among the decisions he took was to make the wearing of seat belts compulsory, the introduction of the breathalyser test and many others related to safety.

He subsequently served as Minister for Defence and Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works under Mr. Haughey. It was in the latter capacity that he declared the Burren a national park. In 1984, he was elected to the European Parliament. He did not seek re-election in 1987 and retired from the European Parliament in 1989. Throughout his life, Sylvester Barrett was a committed member of the Fianna Fáil Party and as a mark of the esteem in which he was held, he was appointed honorary president of the Fianna Fáil organisation in County Clare.

Sylvester Barrett was a keen sportsperson. He had a particular passion for greyhounds and horse racing. He would be known to many people in this House and continued to have an enormous interest in the work of the House. He was a man who had wide interests and many friends and he worked hard for the people he represented. He believed in public service and whether in Dublin or Brussels, he never forgot the people he was elected to serve in Clare.

I want to take the opportunity to express my sincere sympathies and the sincere sympathies of the Fianna Fáil Party to Sylvester's wife, Mary, his sons, Frank, Joe, Syl and Tom, his brother, Frank, and his sisters, Anna and Sister Gertrude. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Mr. Kenny

Ba mhaith liom ómós a thabhairt don iar-Theachta, Sylvester Barrett, a fuair bás le déanaí. Ba iad mhuintir Chondae an Chláir a bhí mar phríomh chúram aige agus é ina Theachta Dála.

Sylvester Barrett was born on the same day as the foundation of Fianna Fáil in 1926. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election in 1968 following the death of the then Fine Gael Member, Deputy Bill Murphy, and he served as Minister for Local Government in the 1977 Fianna Fáil Government. He is remembered particularly for awarding a general amnesty giving full driving licences to provisional drivers, one of whom is sitting beside me. He was the first person to oversee the running of the newly created Department of the Environment, putting in place environmental policies which provided a platform for successive Governments. He also served as Minister for Defence between 1979 and 1981 and Minister of State at the Department of Finance in 1982 before running for the European Parliament in 1984, where he served with distinction until 1989. He retired from Dáil Éireann in 1987 when he did not seek re-election.

He was regarded, first and foremost, as being a real Clare man and as a Deputy between 1968 and 1987. He sought principally to promote the interests of his native county and the mid-west region. He was the Fianna Fáil spokesman on energy in the mid-1970s when he was recognised as an authority on the subject during the world oil crisis at that time. I regret that he suffered a debilitating stroke in December 1997. He is survived by his wife, Mary, his sons, Frank, Joe, Syl and Tom, his brother, Frank, and his sisters, Sister Anna and Sister Gertrude.

It should be noted that there was an extremely strong Fianna Fáil tradition in the Barrett household. A famous incident in County Clare was when his aunt Peg threw herself in front of the armed forces who were there to arrest de Valera in the square in Ennis, a much remarked upon event in political life in Clare.

Sylvester Barrett will be remembered for being a kind and generous spirit, a true Clare man who sought at all times to promote the welfare of his county. In so far as this House is concerned, he left a mark that probably has been the cause of Governments being either taken out or put together because he was responsible for the reconstruction and renovation of the Dáil bar. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis agus tá súil agam gur i suaimhneas na bhflaitheas atá sé faoi láthair.

Mr. Quinn

On my behalf and on behalf of the Labour Party, I would like to extend our sympathies to the Fianna Fáil Party on the death of the former Deputy, Minister and MEP, Sylvester Barrett, and also to his family who are known to me personally, in particular his brother Frank. I recall in 1977 when Sylvester Barrett was the man appointed to be the first Minister for the Environment by Jack Lynch and the many actions he took in that job, which he relished, until 1979 when he was moved to another Department following a change of leadership in Fianna Fáil, a change he did not support. Nevertheless, he continued to serve his party with loyalty and distinction and, as has already been said, he went on to represent the province of Munster in the European Parliament in 1984. At all times he was a courteous and gentle but strong and tough individual. He was very conscious of his position and very courteous to young Deputies like myself and others and very true to the Fianna Fáil Party into which he had been born, both literally and spiritually. He will be missed by many of the people who knew him here. Many of us learned with sadness of the very severe stroke he suffered which took away the quality of his life for his remaining years. I would like to extend our sympathy to his wife, his children, his extended family and the Fianna Fáil Party.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

I, too, would like to join the Taoiseach and the other party leaders in offering my sympathy to Mary Barrett and to the late Sylvester Barrett's four sons and his family. Perhaps I should not admit it but, like Deputy Hogan, I was a beneficiary of his amnesty also and he always had a special place in my heart. Given the long waiting lists for driving tests on that occasion, he felt the most appropriate, effective and pragmatic decision to make was to have a general amnesty. I was not aware that any other Member of the House was a beneficiary. I would not have been so willing to admit that I was one had I known that my counterpart in the Fine Gael Party was also a beneficiary.

As Deputy Quinn said, Sylvester Barrett was the first Minister for the Environment when the post was created in 1977. He went on subsequently to become Minister for Defence. He was in every sense a gentleman. He was gen uinely popular on all sides of this House. He was quiet spoken but very effective. He was also a member of another group in the early 1980s known as the Gang of 22 which, given his Clare roots and his Fianna Fáil tradition, about which Deputy Kenny spoke, took a lot of courage. He was a person of the utmost integrity. It is sad that in recent years he suffered such ill health. I am aware in particular that he enjoyed, as the Taoiseach said, the dogs, horses and sport generally. He particularly enjoyed his membership of the European Parliament and it is significant that his son is now working with the Fianna Fáil group in Europe.

To the Fianna Fáil Party, I offer my sympathy but especially to his wife, Mary, his family and the people of Clare.

Mr. Sargent

Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón an Chomhaontais Ghlais agus mo chomhbhrón féin a dhéanamh le Mary Barrett, baintreach Sylvester Barrett, agus lena chlann agus a chairde i gCondae an Chláir agus i gcéin. Is cinnte go bhfuil laoch polaitiúl caillte ag muintir Cláir agus is cinnte go bhfuil an-chuid dea-shamplá fágtha ag Sylvester Barrett do mhuintir Fianna Fáil ach go háirithe. Aithním an tsuim a bhí ag an Uasal Barrett i gcúrsaí spoirt agus comhshaoil. D'fhág sé oidhreacht an-thábhachtach ina dhiaidh – an brú a chuir sé ar chonsabháltacht, ar na bóithre a fheabhsú agus páirc naisiúnta a chur ar bun i gCondae an Chláir. Is cinnte go bhfuil brón ar mhuintir Cláir agus tuigim sin. Tá dea-chuimhní ar achan duine a raibh aithne acu ar Sylvester Barrett sa Teach seo. Ní raibh aithne agam féin air ach ba dhuine mhaith é. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I join the other Deputies in extending the sympathy of the House to the widow and family of the late Deputy Sylvester Barrett, who also served in the European Parliament. I extend the sympathy of the Sinn Féin team in the House to Fianna Fáil on its loss at this time. Many of the Members on the Fianna Fáil benches served with Deputy Barrett over a number of years. I did not have that pleasure and opportunity as he retired in the year I was elected to the House, but from everything I have known and heard of Deputy Barrett, he was undoubtedly, as the Taoiseach described him, and I concur with that view. I sincerely express, on behalf of myself and my party colleagues, our sympathy to his grieving widow and family in their loss.

Miss de Valera

As one of the Deputies from County Clare, I take this opportunity to extend my condolences to Mary and Sylvester's family. Everyone who has spoken here today referred to his great public service and the fact that he worked extremely hard on behalf of the people of County Clare, where he engendered a great deal of respect and love. We are all aware of his work as a Deputy, Minister and MEP. He served his constituency, county and country well. May God have mercy on his soul.

Mr. Killeen

It is with a sense of great personal sadness that I join the Taoiseach and the other speakers to extend sympathy to Mary Barrett and her family on Sylvester's death. He served in this House for a long time in various capacities with great dignity, as other speakers have said. I did not have the honour of serving with him but I knew him well in Fianna Fáil. He was a man of particular strength and dignity who held his place strongly in difficult times in the party and the county. He was a wonderful contributor to the life of County Clare and Fianna Fáil. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Mr. P. Breen

It is with regret that my first contribution in the Dáil as a new Member for County Clare is tainted with sadness as we pay tribute to the late Sylvie Barrett who died last month. As a young fellow, I knew Sylvie before he entered politics. He was a rate collector in my district and on many occasions he gave me a lift home from national school. He was a friend of my father and my family. He became a Deputy in 1968 and served as a Minister in a number of Departments. He is best remembered as the first Minister for the Environment in 1977, replacing the old Department of Local Government. He was a successful Minister. He was a plain, shy, genuine person and popular on all sides of the political divide. He became an MEP in 1984 and remained one until 1989. I am sure he was delighted to retire then to get away from the Brussels Eurocrats as he was very much a rural person at heart. He was delighted to return to his native parish where he concentrated on his great love of sports, particularly greyhounds and horses. One of his greatest moments of triumph was in 1995 when Clare won the all-Ireland hurling final, which he attended in Croke Park.

When he became ill in December 1997, he bore his illness with great courage and dignity. It was very sad that he died during the general election campaign last month. I sympathise with his wife, Mary, and sons, Joe, Syl, Thomas and Frank, who maintains the political connection as head of the Fianna Fáil group in the European Parliament. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Members rose.