Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Apr 2002

Vol. 169 No. 18

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.

Mr. Cassidy

On behalf of all Members of the Seanad and on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group in the House, I would like to express our sympathy on the death of former Member, Stephen McGonagle, who passed away recently. Stephen will be best remembered for his dedication and hard work on behalf of the members of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers and later the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, of which he became north west regional officer.

In 1960, Stephen became an increasingly influential figure in trade union affairs and industrial relations in Northern Ireland. He was instrumental in the formation of the Northern Ireland committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He later became its chairman and in 1972 he became president of congress. In 1974, he was appointed Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Commissioner for Complaints, a post we know today as Ombudsman. He was the first Catholic to hold such a post in Northern Ireland. He brought the same fairness and sense of natural justice and common sense to this role that had marked his earlier career. In 1977, he became chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Complaints Board, which he had helped establish.

In 1983, he was nominated to the Seanad by then Taoiseach, Garrett FitzGerald, where he served until 1987, speaking on labour matters, social issues, health and housing and the reports of the Ombudsman. He was also a member of the New Ireland Forum.

On behalf of all Members of the House, I offer our sincere sympathy to his daughter, Patricia, and his sons, Owen, Ryan, Kevin, Malachy and Declan.

Mr. Manning

I join the Leader in this tribute and expression of sympathy to the family of the late Stephen McGonagle. I had the honour of serving with him on the New Ireland Forum, although not in this House. He had a number of striking characteristics. First, there was not a sectarian bone in his body. He managed to rise above the almost all-engulfing sectarianism that was Northern Ireland politics during much of that time. As such, he served as a role model for many other people.

Second, he had great common sense. He grew up in the trade union movement. He spoke very plainly and without obfuscation and he brought enormous common sense to everything he said. His contributions to this House and, as I recall, the New Ireland Forum were characterised by that common sense. I got to know him best, as is often the case in these Houses, over the odd cup of tea or coffee, or occasionally something stronger later in the evening.

He was a very sociable man who mixed very well with the rest of us and I think he loved those evenings of conversation, chats, jokes and yarns. He had a great sense of humour and many of us felt very warmly towards him. He certainly enriched this House and made a real and individual contribution. He was always his own man. I mourn his passing and would like to pass on to his family the sympathy of my party and those of this side of the House.

Dr. Henry

I express my sympathy to the family of the late former Senator McGonagle. I did not have the opportunity of meeting him, but I knew of him by reputation, in particular through his work on the New Ireland Forum. I gather he was a very personable man and that his contributions to the House were always full of common sense, as Senator Manning pointed out. We have just had a health debate and I gather that area was one of his great interests while in the House.

He also served as Northern Ireland Ombudsman and it is good that we have another former Ombudsman here in Senator Maurice Hayes. The contributions to the House of people like former Senator McGonagle and Senator Hayes show how useful it has been in the past 20 years or so to appoint people from Northern Ireland to the House. The All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution has concluded that it would be a good idea for the Taoiseach to appoint four people from Northern Ireland to the Seanad and I hope that recommendation is heeded. Such must be their good common sense that the committee decided we could do with more of it in this House.

Dr. M. Hayes

I also express sympathy to the family of former Senator McGonagle. As a sort of shop steward for retired Ombudsmen, I had much in common with him. I followed him into two posts, first serving as Northern Ireland Ombudsman some years after he had done so and I then had the great honour of also being the Taoiseach's appointee to the Seanad some years after him.

Stephen McGonagle was a man I knew for many years. He made an enormous contribution to public life in Northern Ireland in very difficult times. He helped the trade union movement with his wise leadership in that difficult period. Senator Manning noted that he had not a sectarian or bigoted bone in his body. When he became Ombudsman, he was the first non-civil servant to assume the role and he brought common sense, tact and a gift for straight talking to the job. I think he would like to be remembered as an Ombudsman.

The first Danish Ombudsman described his work as:

helping to emphasise the governmental services' responsibility towards justice and efficient administration, large and small. It is the task of the Ombudsman to see to the best of his ability that all who hold authority retain a sense of responsibility towards the individual citizen.

That was one thing that Stephen McGonagle did. He was a model Ombudsman and a very fine human being. I am honoured to be allowed to pay tribute to him.

Mr. Quinn

I had the pleasure of serving with Stephen McGonagle back in the early 1950s. It was in my father's holiday camp in Skerries, County Dublin, where he came to work as a teenager. In subsequent years, I followed his career although I do not think our paths crossed at any time. It was interesting to hear Senator Hayes speaking about him. It was also interesting to hear Senator Henry's point that those who come to the House from Northern Ireland – very often as nominees of the Taoiseach – have played a valuable role. My memory of Stephen McGonagle, not just here but elsewhere throughout his life, was of someone who presented a down to earth and compassionate viewpoint. As a nation, we have gained a great deal from people like him. He certainly will be missed.

An Cathaoirleach

As someone who served in this House with the late Stephen McGonagle, I would like to be associated with the tributes that have been paid to him. I also wish to join the expressions of sympathy to his family.

Members rose.