Deputies will have learned of the death during the recess of Deputy Kieran Doherty who had been on hunger strike at the Maze Prison. Deputy Doherty was returned as a Member of the Dáil for the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan in this year's general election. He was a native of Belfast and had been in prison, on remand and following sentence, since August 1976.
I ask you, a Cheann Comhairle, to convey to the parents and the family of the late Deputy the sympathy of the House in their loss, which has added to the burden of sorrow that violence has brought to so many people in Northern Ireland.
Since we last met there has been also the tragic death of former Deputy Joe Fox, who was very recently a Member of this House, as well as the assassination of President Sadat of Egypt, whose courage and statesmanship won widespread acclaim. I have already conveyed the sympathy of the Government, and I am sure the House will wish to convey its sympathy to the Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament.