Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Vol. 183 No. 16

Deaths of Former Members: Expressions of Sympathy.

Ms O’Rourke

We are saddened today that the representatives of each party must rise to voice sympathy on the deaths of two former Members of this House, John Mannion and Pat Codd. The former Senator, John Mannion of Fine Gael, served on the agricultural panel in Seanad Éireann from 1969 to 1977. He was a member of Galway County Council for a long period, and of the former Western Health Board and other bodies. He was then elected to Dáil Éireann and subsequently to Seanad Éireann, and was well-liked. People in the west of Ireland talked about his family. He believed strongly in representing the people and was a keen member of the county council.

His father, John Mannion senior, had been a Deputy for Galway West between 1951 and 1954. He too was on the agricultural panel. His son followed in his father's tradition.

Pat Codd, from Wexford, was a Member of this House from 1975 to 1977, having come in on a Seanad by-election. He was a great champion of the Wexford people having been a diligent and painstaking member of Wexford County Council. I am reading from Deputy Kenny's press release because I did not know either gentleman so I must rely on this source. He believed in the power of politics to improve people's lives. We all subscribe to that tenet because that is why we are in politics. He was well-known and everybody spoke well of him which is highly unusual in political life.

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, and its members, I express sympathy with the families of the late John Mannion of Clifden and the late Pat Codd of Wexford.

Mr. B. Hayes

On behalf of my colleagues in this House, and on behalf of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, I join the Leader's expression of sympathy for the families of former Senators John M. Mannion and Pat Codd. John Mannion and his family are known throughout the country as coming from a distinct political tradition in Galway-West. The Mannions have been in politics since the 1940s. John Mannion Senior was a distinguished Member of both Houses throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

In recent years my party colleagues were sad to hear that John M. was crippled with arthritis. He has died young, at only 62 years of age. Our hearts and sympathy go out to his wife, Doris, and their two children. They live in a beautiful location in Clifden from where politically it is difficult to be elected in west Galway. John was a great champion of Connemara and of Galway. As the Leader of the House said, he had a distinguished record of service on Galway County Council for many years. He was a Member of this House from 1969 to 1973 and as a result of elections was a Member of the Dáil from 1977 to 1981.

I am reliably informed that he was a very quick-witted and colourful character. He enjoyed the company of other politicians and gave a lifelong commitment to the people of Connemara and to the people of Clifden in particular. He was a businessman with many business interests who employed a large number of people in Clifden. We remember the late John M. Mannion today.

We also remember former Senator Pat Codd. He was a politician who hailed from Enniscorthy, County Wexford. I did not know him personally but I have heard his memory being eulogised by many colleagues in my party in recent months. Curiously, he won a by-election — a by-election is a very strange animal in this House because the result is known before the ballot takes place, assuming the Government of the day has a majority in the House. He was selected in April 1975 to win a casual vacancy in this House. It says a lot about the former Senator that the then Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, asked him to contest that by-election. He was a Member of this House from April 1975 until 1977. He was a councillor and former chairman of Wexford County Council.

He had a deep interest in and a passion for agriculture and for rural affairs. He spoke in the House on many occasions on those matters. Colleagues have informed me that in recent years he virtually dedicated his life to charity work and to Self-Help Ireland and raised large sums of money for that organisation and for other charities in the south east. I offer our deepest sympathy to his wife, Evelyn, to his sons, Mark and John and his daughters, Mary, Sarah and Joan. We remember his commitment and the commitment of Senator Mannion to this House when they served here in such a distinguished way for many years.

Mr. O’Toole

The Independent Members wish to be associated with the words of condolence offered by the previous speakers. None of us served in this House with either of the two former Senators. I knew the former Senator Mannion quite well. He was on very friendly terms with the former Leader of the House, former Senator Maurice Manning. I met him when he visited the House and in Clifden on a number of occasions. I am aware of his family tradition of commitment to the needs of the west of Ireland which he represented at county council, Dáil and Seanad level. I did not have the opportunity to meet former Senator Pat Codd but we express our condolences to the families of both.

Mr. Ryan

Unfortunately I did not personally know either Senator Mannion or Senator Codd. Occasions such as this provide the opportunity to pay tribute to the principle of service as much as to individuals. It is worth repeating that their service was worthwhile even though not all of us would have known about it. I express my condolences to their families for their loss. It is certain that both of these men attempted to serve the country and their own communities and used all the abilities they possessed both within and without these Houses to do that service. The Labour Party wishes to be associated with the expressions of regret and condolence. We also want to pay tribute to the service they gave and to the fact that they choose to do it. Like all people who put their names forward in an election, they were willing to accept the possibility of losing as well as winning. Therefore, they were among the genuine risk takers in our society who take the risk not for their own sake but for the sake of what they believe they can do for their communities.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Mr. Dardis

On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, I join the other groups in extending our sympathy to the family, friends and party colleagues of the late Senators John M. Mannion and Pat Codd.

Like Senator O'Toole, I would have met the late Senator Mannion with Maurice Manning when he was Leader of the House. Both Senators Mannion and Codd came from distinguished families in their respective parts of the country, families whose names would be well known within politics and well beyond that realm. Their commitment to agriculture was also referred to, of which I am aware from the past. Both of them served their areas and the State well. They deserve to be remembered here today with affection and regret.

Mr. U. Burke

I would like to be associated with my colleagues' expressions of sympathy to the families of John M. Mannion and the late Pat Codd.

I served on Galway County Council with John M. Mannion for approximately 25 years. When I was first elected to the council in 1974 I remember well the bunch of heavies who were on it. When one remembers that people like Bobby Molloy, Mark Killalea, John Donnellan and Deputy Michael D. Higgins served on the council with John M. Mannion, one recalls that one had to stay quiet for a long period and serve one's time.

Mr. Dardis

The Deputy is making up for that now.

Mr. U. Burke

Everyone who remembers John Mannion as a member of Galway County Council would say he was the type of person who would take one under his wing because he believed in consensus and the need to avoid conflict at all costs. For that reason many members across parties would rely on his careful decisions and the way in which he would put forward proposals if a matter was causing conflict in the chamber. That epitomises the character of the late John Mannion.

John also served as a member of Western Health Board. He had many achievements on that board in bringing services to Clifden, the outer periphery of the health board area. At all times he was fair given that in a county like Galway there would have been serious conflict between east and west in so far as people from east Galway would have believed that Connemara was getting most and vice versa. John was the second Fine Gael chairperson of Galway County Council after the late Toddy Byrne who was the first Fine Gael chairperson of the council. His achievement in winning a seat for Fine Gael in the Dáil from his base in Clifden was a super achievement. Were it not for the fact that he was recognised as a person of great integrity I do not believe he would have achieved that.

I would like to be associated with the words of sympathy extended to his wife Doris and his two children.

An Cathaoirleach

Generally, only Senators from the counties of the deceased members are asked to express sympathy but as Senator John Paul Phelan was a close family friend of Senator Codd, he may do so.

Mr. J. Phelan

I thank the Cathaoirleach and am grateful for his indulgence. I did not know the late John M. Mannion but from colleagues I have heard many stories and yarns about this activities and politics down the years. I want to extend sympathy to his family.

However, I knew Pat Codd very well for the past number of years. He was very involved in politics even up to his sudden death and was interested and participated in all aspects of political life throughout the country.

I met him for the last time a couple of months ago in the Oireachtas Library. He was here on a visit with Deputy Kehoe from Wexford. We were very shocked by Pat's sudden death. He had a long and varied career in politics. As people have said, he was a former member of Wexford County Council. He was chairman of the county council in his last year there, 1984-85. Pat Codd had the unique distinction of being a member of the county council for Fine Gael with his son-in-law, Martin Dunbar, from the Labour Party. They represented two different electoral areas. Nonetheless, that is quite unusual in politics.

All politicians can run up against their own organisation from time to time and Pat Codd had his difficulties with Fine Gael. He stood for a selection convention in February 1982 and was beaten by one or two votes by a 20 year old town councillor from Enniscorthy called Ivan Yates, who also went on to have a distinguished career in politics. He was upset at the time but afterwards became very actively involved in Fine Gael despite his disappointment. As Senator Brian Hayes has said, he was the organiser of the Self-Help Ireland charity in the south east region. He collected vast amounts of money and dedicated much of his latter years to that worthy cause, putting in a tremendous effort in that regard. He was a treasurer of the Wexford GAA County Board in years gone by and was very dedicated to that organisation.

I was pleased to have been able to attend his requiem mass on Holy Thursday night in Marshalstown church, just outside Enniscorthy. I had the privilege of going to college with his grandson, as well as knowing Pat for a number of years and I wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to his family.

An Cathaoirleach

I also want to be associated with the tributes to the late former Members of this House, John M. Mannion and Pat Codd. I knew both of them. When I entered the House in 1977, Senator Mannion had already been a Member for the two previous terms. On that occasion, 1977, he was elected to the Dáil. We stayed in the same hotel and a friendship developed between us. Since he left parliamentary politics I had occasion to meet him nearly every year at the Listowel races, where he stayed with his long-time friend, the former Deputy and Senator, Gerard Lynch. I attended his funeral and was pleased to do so. I always found John Mannion to be a gentleman who never let politics come between him and friendship.

I also knew Pat Codd after he had left the Seanad. He was elected in 1975 in a by-election. There were five Seanad by-elections the same day. Fine Gael won three and the Labour Party won two. Pat Codd, who stood on the agricultural panel, won the seat by 20 votes from another Fine Gael candidate on that occasion, Joe Lennon, from Louth. Subsequently, when I was campaigning for the Seanad and when Pat Codd had a vote——

Ms O’Rourke

Now we are coming to it.

An Cathaoirleach

Given the importance of preferences, I always gave him a call. I was always delighted with the reception I got from him. I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the wives and families of both Senators.

Members rose.