Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Mar 1974

Vol. 77 No. 4

Death of Member.

An Cathaoirleach

Senators will have heard with profound shock of the brutal murder of our colleague, Senator Billy Fox. This dreadful act which has torn the fabric of our Parliament will, I know, be regarded by all of us with abhorrence and revulsion.

Despite his comparative youth, Senator Billy Fox had achieved considerable distinction in the public life of our country. In 1967, he was elected a member of Monaghan County Council and in 1969 became a Member of Dáil Éireann for the Monaghan Constituency. In 1973 he was elected to this House on the Cultural and Educational Panel. He was known to us all as an unassuming and cheerful man who effectively carried out his public duties without ostentation. He won general respect both for his views which were notable for their lack of prejudice and for the quiet manner in which he expressed these views. His young life has now been cut short in a most savage manner.

I have conveyed on your behalf our heartfelt sympathy to the relatives of the late Senator.

I bhFlaitheas Dé go raibh a anam.

I have received the following telegram from Mr. Minford, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly:—

On behalf of the Northern Ireland Assembly I express to you and to the Senate of the Republic of Ireland our profound sense of shock at the murder of a distinguished public representative Senator William Fox and tender our deepest sympathy.

Mr. M.J. O'Higgins

I move that the House adjourn until 3 p.m. on Wednesday next as a mark of respect. Nothing could more poignantly bring home to us or more humiliatingly expose to the world the tragedy and shame of the Ireland of 1974 than that the brutal bullet of the assassin should have removed from this Assembly a young man who so short a time ago quietly and unobtrusively, yet so cheerfully and so sincerely, shared with us the prayer that every word and work of ours might always begin by God and by God be happily ended. I have never spoken in this House with such a full heart or with a greater sense of real pain than at this moment.

I cannot express adequately the depth of feeling and the numbing weight of sorrow felt by my colleagues and his on the death of Billy Fox, but I also know that bitterness had no part in the make-up of Billy Fox. Crude and cruel as was the fate meted out to him by his murderers, I am certain he would not have us react with bitterness in our hearts in a way which would add to our national shame. If this terrible deed, which has removed him from our midst and left this House a poorer place and left my own party a lonelier one by his passing, could somehow inspire all of us to dedicate ourselves anew to the cause of peace in this land, to banish violence as a political weapon, to see murder as the obscenity to which the Taoiseach referred yesterday, then Billy Fox could know that, however ghastly the manner of ending it, the sacrifice of his young life was not in vain and that it had contributed perhaps more abundantly, because of the stark tragedy involved, to a more secure welfare of the people and of the country which he loved and served.

Mr. Hanafin

I desire to associate the Fianna Fáil Party with the expression of sympathy to the relatives of the late Senator Billy Fox on the loss they have suffered through the terrible deed. A Member of this House has been slaughtered with outrageous contempt for the people of this country and we must all condemn this cowardly and brutal murder in the strongest terms. It has come as a shock to all of us that a man who has sincerely and effectively carried out his duties as a public representative should be struck down in such a way. Solus Dé lena anam.

Mr. J. Fitzgerald

On behalf of the Labour Party, I should like to extend our heartfelt sympathy to the relatives of the late Senator Billy Fox. His cowardly and brutal murder has shocked us beyond words and we extend our sympathy also to the Fine Gael Party, our colleagues in the National Coalition, on the irreparable loss of a young and dedicated public servant.

Mr. Brosnahan

As an Independent Senator, I should like to support the expression of sympathywith the relatives of the late Senator Fox. What I would like to say to the man, if I may term the person as such, who delegated to himself the authority to act as judge and executioner of a defenceless, unarmed, gentle person named Billy Fox, is that he is not only a disgrace to the cause which he espouses but, in my opinion, he is a disgrace to the human race. Beanacht Dé le h-anam caoin cneasta Billy Fox agus ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam.

Mr. Brennan

I wish to be associated with those words of sympathy in connection with the lamented death of Senator Billy Fox. As Senators probably are aware, I had the privilege of serving with him on the county council and other county council committees over the past years. A more intelligent, enlightened and forward-looking gentleman I have yet to meet, though I must confess that he and I did not agree politically, which was only natural, I suppose, in a civilised society. This unfortunate incident is made more tragic by the fact that people of goodwill, both North and South, look forward to a day when a better sense of understanding will prevail, and I hope and trust that this sacrifice will not be in vain. I want to assure the House that I am stating not only my own feelings but those of my colleagues in my own party and other parties with which I am associated on and off public bodies when I say that this terrible tragedy has actually frozen the people of County Monaghan. I do not want to supersede the motion, but I certainly look forward to a day when we all will regret—the vast majority of the people do regret —what is a tragedy beyond my ability to express it: the fact that a thing like this can happen in what is supposed to be a civilised society. It is only a sick or a savage society that could condone such an act. I do not know where to apportion the blame nor do I intend to do so, but whatever influence I wield I shall use to bring the perpetrators of this terrible deed to justice. I regret Senator Fox's passing. I wish publicly to convey my sympathy and that of my party to his relatives and friends.

Mr. Markey

I am too shocked to say more than a few words, but as an associate of Senator Fox who campaigned with him in the General Elections of 1969 and 1973, and who has known him for a very short period of only seven years of what was a very short life, I can only say that his death has been effected in what is nothing other than a cauldron of destruction in this country at the present time. In extending sympathy to the remaining members of his family, to his personal friends and to any other relations, I can only hope that out of that same cauldron of destruction there can come a new dedication to reconciliation and a move towards peace.

Members rose in their places.

The Seanad adjourned at 3.15 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 20th March, 1974.