It is my sad duty to move that Seanad Éireann extend its deepest sympathy to the People's Assembly and to the people of the Arab Republic of Egypt on the death of President Sadat and also that Seanad Éireann extend its sympathy to the widow of the President. Worldwide reaction to this tragic event has shown the extent to which Anwar Sadat caught the imagination of the world when he took peace initiatives which were as courageous as they were unexpected. A Nobel Peace Prize winner, he led his people along a path which most of the rest of the world hoped would lead to peace in the Middle East. Struck down while he has still involved in this work, Mr. Sadat will be deeply missed in international affairs and by his own people, who were led by him for so long. It is therefore with great sadness that I ask the Seanad to extend its sympathy to the people of Egypt and to the family of the late President.
Death of President Sadat: Expression of Sympathy.
I would like on behalf of Fianna Fáil to express our deep regret at the assassination of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. He was a man of considerable courage who sought to lead his people away from the path of violence. He made a very considerable contribution to his country and to the world during a very difficult decade. I join in the expression of sympathy proposed by the Leader of the House.
I would like on behalf of the Labour Party to be associated with the condolences of this House on the tragic and untimely death of President Sadat. President Sadat was a socialist leader of the highest international repute. He made tremendous economic progress in his country, which has suffered for many years in a warring situation with its neighbours. He showed tremendous courage in his peace initiatives and was successful in ensuring that peace would reign in the Middle East.
I was fortunate to be a member of an inter-parliamentary delegation to Egypt in 1976 and witnessed first hand the economic progress that he had made in spite of a poor economy in his own country — the progress in the re-opening of the Suez Canal, the opening of this magnificent waterway for the betterment of business and commerce through the world and also his building up of the infrastructure of his country through the years. He will be best known for his efforts in the peace area. We hope that his successor will continue the good work and that their neighbours, Israel and the other Arab countries, will likewise see peace as a solution to the problems of the Middle East. Our own economy depends very much on theirs. He is a great loss. It is a tragedy that his life should have been taken in this way. We hope that peace will be renewed in that area.
I would like to add my own voice and, I take it, the voice of my colleagues on the Independent benches to the vote of sympathy. Apart from Mr. Sadat's role as a peacemaker, he tried to divert Egypt from futile militarism to economic development. There is one more thing that needs to be said. The last time we sympathised in this House on the death of a Head of State it was on the occasion of the death of Marshal Tito. It is quite remarkable, when we think about it, that the attributes of great leadership exemplified in these two men had been reduced to two essentials. Firstly, an outstanding leader gives or significantly retains his people's self-respect and, secondly, a great leader is not content simply to reflect their passive attitudes and inverted tribalisms but strives to lead them in a search for a new expression of nationality.
Senators rose in their places.