Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 28 Jun 2001

Vol. 167 No. 9

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.

Mr. Dardis

On my behalf and on behalf of the House I would like to extend sympathy to the family of the late Michael Moynihan, who served in this House from 1973 to 1981 and who was also a distinguished Dáil Deputy and junior Minister. I would also like to express our sympathy to his colleagues in the Labour Party, which he served with great distinction over many years.

There is encouragement in his political career for some of us in the Upper House in that he contested seven elections before becoming a Member of the Dáil in 1981. He was also a member of Kerry County Council and Killarney UDC and an executive member of the Transport and General Workers' Union. He was a great Kerry man and won a seat for the Labour Party in an area which at that time was not considered easily captured. Once he got the seat he held on to it and is succeeded by his daughter, Breeda, to whom we particularly express our sympathy. We also express sympathy to his wife, Mai, his son Maurice and the other members of his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dhílis.

Mr. Manning

I join in the expression of sympathy to the family of the late Michael Moynihan. I had the pleasure of having a chat with him on his last visit to the Houses a few weeks ago. He was always certain of a very warm welcome from all sides whenever he came to the Houses. Those who knew Michael will have many memories of him. His most striking quality was his extraordinary natural courtesy. He was a very quiet, soft-spoken man, a gentleman in every respect. His entire career was based on a genuine concern for other people. He was very close to the people he served, and that closeness was rewarded by the confidence they consistently placed in him over a very long period.

He was very much in the old style of Irish politics, and of Irish Labour politics. He was very much the champion of the underdog and would take up unpopular causes and fight for the people who very often were not capable of fighting for themselves. He was also very good company. Always very quiet, he was a great observer of the human condition and had a very good sense of humour. It was always a pleasure to be on a trip with him or sit and talk with him quietly over a cup of tea to exchange views. One learned much from him as he had a great sense of wisdom and common sense.

He was a big man in every sense of the word and I join with the Deputy Leader, on my own behalf and that of my party, in expressing sympathy to his wife and family and to the Labour Party which he served so well over such a long period and to which he left a lasting monument in terms of a seat which is still held by his party and his family. He was a good public servant. May he rest in peace.

Mr. O'Toole

We wish to be associated with the expressions of condolence to the family of the late Michael Moynihan. He is very much in the far reaches of my memory. Many decades ago, when Kerry was re-divided and west Kerry was transferred from the constituency of Kerry South to Kerry North, there was no Spring on the ballot paper for the first time in living memory and the new name of Moynihan that appeared on it was a point of discussion.

Michael Moynihan was all that previous speakers have said. It was most extraordinary and surprising that a man who spoke so quietly, and often with a chuckle, had a voice with such a deeply resonant timbre that carried across a room when he spoke in public. He had an ideal public speaking voice. He had great concern for his constituency, huge commitment to his town of Killarney and dedicated his whole life to public service and public representation. Like Robert the Bruce and the spider, he simply kept trying until he made it. He showed a great sense of commitment to his work and he and his family have been highly respected in his South Kerry constituency for many decades. We express our condolences to his wife, to Breeda, his daughter, and to the rest of his family.

Mr. Costello

I too express my sympathy and offer condolences to the family of the late Michael Moynihan. He was a gentle giant. He certainly was a giant in the trade union movement and in the Labour Party. He was an extremely courteous man with whom one could always have a quiet chat.

He entered politics in much the same way as most politicians, at local level, winning his first seat on Killarney Urban District Council in 1955 having already contested the general election in 1954. Of all the politicians who have come into Leinster House, few contested as many elections or traversed such difficult terrain to get elected as Michael Moynihan did in Kerry South, which could not be regarded as traditional trade union Labour voting territory. However, as other people have said, he stuck at it.

He was a very steadfast and passionate man who believed deeply in championing the rights of the underdog. He was, first and foremost, a trade union activist in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union. All his life that was his anchor in the community and he made it relevant to the community. He did not engage in highfalutin' talk or esoteric intellectualisation but had direct contact with people on the ground. On that foundation he built up his base and got elected to Kerry County Council, to this House where he served for a period, and to the other House. His daughter, Breeda, is now a Dáil Deputy.

I pay tribute to a very fine man, a very generous and courteous man, a great servant of the Labour Party and the trade union movement, a man who was passionate in his oratory and in his beliefs. Ar dheis Dé go rabh a anam.

Mr. T. Fitzgerald

I too join with other Senators in a vote of sympathy to the family of Michael Moynihan, his wife, sons and daughters, in particular Breeda Moynihan-Cronin.

I grew up politically with Michael Moynihan in the days about which Senator O'Toole spoke. Michael Moynihan fought six general elections and one by-election, one of which I particularly remember. It took place at a time when politicians spoke outside churches. Being a raw young fellow I thought that because I had arrived first I would be the first to speak, but I discovered that there was a pecking order when I was approached by one of my own supporters from Fianna Fáil and told that it was done on the basis of seniority. However, I was totally amazed when Michael Moynihan, having spoken, asked the people to wait, introduced me as being there on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party and apologised for speaking too long. This is the kind of man Michael Moynihan was. He was nature's own gentleman.

Michael Moynihan's record in elections shows his perseverance. His election win in Kerry in 1981, displacing the late Chubb O'Connor, sent shock waves through the Fianna Fáil organisation in Kerry South, and we had to accept that Michael Moynihan or whoever replaced him was there to stay. I sympathise with his wife, Mai, their children, and in particular Breeda. I also sympathise with the Labour Party on the loss of one of its greatest stalwarts who helped to build up that party.

Mr. Coghlan

I join with my colleagues in paying tribute to the late Michael Moynihan. Everything that has been said about him is true. He was a great colleague. He was elected to Killarney Urban District Council 1954, and I served for ten very happy years with him on the council, from 1985 until he retired.

He was always a very kind man, thoughtful and very generous with his advice. He served on Kerry County Council on and off over a period and, as has been said, following his sixth attempt he became a Member of Dáil Éireann in 1981. It has been rightly said that his most enduring quality was perseverance. Michael Moynihan never gave up.

He was a great trade union figure as well. When he became a psychiatric nurse in 1938 in St. Finnan's Hospital, Killarney, he joined the union. He became a branch secretary in Killarney and served on the national executive of SIPTU. He was loyal to his union and, as has been said by other speakers, he always willing to take up a grievance on behalf of a person and to see it through. He never gave up. He battled to the very last, whatever the issue.

He contributed greatly to Killarney's industrial success. He played a huge part in bringing Mr. Hans Liebherr to Ireland from Germany in 1956, visiting Germany with a delegation to ensure that he came. He smoothed all sorts of industrial relations problems over the years. I was a young man barely out of short pants when the Pretty Polly company came to Killarney in 1966, but I remember driving a man named Williamson, the original sales director who did a deal with my father-in-law for the land, and bringing him back to Cork Airport the next day. The people involved were the late Mattie O'Shea of Fianna Fáil, Michael Moynihan of Labour and the late Terry Clifford of Fine Gael, and that showed how well Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour co-operated. Sadly they have all gone now. They were the people who brought Pretty Polly to Killarney in 1966. That trio also played a part in bringing Liebherr to Killarney many years previously, a company which went on to develop hotels and other enterprises.

The constituency was very proud of Michael Moynihan when he became Minister of State with responsibility for tourism during his term as a Dáil Deputy. He lost his seat in 1987 when Fianna Fáil won it. Although he was in his 70s, he regained that seat in 1989. While he gave those opposite a knock-out blow in 1981, he delivered for us in 1989. He ran every year, except in 1969 when he would not run because he was a great believer in coalition with my party. In 1969 the Labour Party set its face against coalition and he declined to run. The Labour Party had to get another candidate – a very nice man too. However, its vote slumped and Michael Moynihan came back when the Labour Party changed its policy and built its vote back up. The truth was that he probably had more Blueshirts in his background than many of us on this side of the House.

Mrs. Ridge

The Senator should speak for himself.

Mr. Coghlan

No wonder he had the views he had. That was his background in east Kerry. He was a next door neighbour of mine since 1968 and he was very helpful to my late father when he built his house there. He could not have been a kinder neighbour. I lived on one side of him for a number of years and when I built my own house, I lived on the other side of him.

I extend my sympathy to his wife Mai, to his daughters, Catherine and Breeda, a Member of the other House who succeeded him in 1992, and to his sons, John, Maurice and Michael.

Mr. D. Kiely

I can add very little to what has been said this morning in paying tribute to the late Michael Moynihan. I had the honour of serving with him on Kerry County Council from 1979. As has been said, Michael Moynihan was a resilient man and had great dedication to the Labour Party and to the people of South Kerry. The highlight of his career, apart from being elected to the Dáil in 1981, would have been his appointment as Minister for Tourism, especially coming from a county like Kerry. He was so proud of that achievement and he handled that portfolio with honour and dignity. He was very grateful for being given that type of opportunity. I extend my sympathy to his wife and family and, in particular, to Breeda, a Member of the other House.

An Cathaoirleach

I would like to be associated with the tributes which have been paid to the late Michael Moynihan and to join in the expression of sympathy to his wife and family.

Members rose.