The Taoiseach wishes to express sympathy on the death of Mr. James Mathew Dillon.
Death of Former Member. - Expression of Sympathy.
James Dillon's father, John Dillon, in the company of Parnell and his colleagues started the process which ended the dominance of landowners in the Irish social, economic and physical life, a social revolution achieved within a lifespan of a generation. But James Dillon was not content to coast along in Irish political life on the accumulated goodwill which his father and his grandfather, Mr. Blake Dillon, had engendered. He was par excellence his own man. While still in his teens he began his career as a platform speaker during the general election of 1918, one of the major turning points in modern Irish history. He was in a minority then. He pursued the minority course in 1927, when he put his talents at the disposal of the short-lived National League Group.
He entered the Dáil in 1932 and will always be central to any serious discussion on parliamentary life in this country in the four decades from the thirties to the sixties. During this period he became Deputy Leader of the Fine Gael Party, resigning from this post and from the party on a point of principle, Irish neutrality, during the Second World War — an action that won him the respect even of those who most strongly disagreed with him on this issue. He never lost the regard of his colleagues in Fine Gael and became the Leader of the Party in 1959, a few short years after he had rejoined it. Some will recall James Dillon principally for his oratory. That is to admire his style to the detriment of its substantive content. His periods of office as Minister for Agriculture can be seen, with the benefit of objective hindsight, as having been characterised by energy, imagination and achievement. For that and for his undeviating integrity, we are all in his debt. I wish to express to his family my personal sympathy and that of the party which he once led, as well as that of the Government.
An Cheann Comhairle, I wish to join in this tribute by Dáil Éireann to the late James Dillon, of whose death we have all learned with the deepest regret.
James Dillon was an outstanding parliamentarian whose whole life was devoted to the service of his country and her people. He regarded politics not as a profession but as a vocation and was never in any doubt that it was through politics and Parliament that the welfare of the people could best be pursued and that to do so with all one's ability was a noble and an honourable calling. He had a scrupulous respect for protocol and an unfailing courtesy.
For 37 years James Dillon was a Member of this House, some six years of which he served as a Government Minister and the remainder on the Opposition benches. The Official Reports of the House record the detailed knowledge of parliamentary procedures, the skill, the expertise, the sharpness of wit and the devastating turn of phrase which he possessed to such a unique degree. But they cannot recapture the colour and the flavour of his magnificent oratory as it flowed over these benches, the beauty of words used with effortless precision and the spontaneous humour which were such a personal pleasure to experience. In the political debates in the House from the early thirties to the sixties he was a formidable force, enlivening the dullest debates and heightening still further the drama of the great occasion.
The dedication and commitment of James Dillon to an Irish Parliament was total. He was dedicated to the concept of the authority of the Dáil deriving directly from the people and the duty of those elected to it to give expression to the voice of the people they represented. This he demonstrated in a powerful way when he voted for the election of Éamon de Valera as head of the first Fianna Fáil Government because he felt that was the wish of the people. In keeping with a long family tradition spanning close on a century and a half, James Dillon's first concern throughout his public life was the welfare of his beloved farming community. While his declared policies towards that end were often the subject of controversy, the sincerity and depth of the conviction which motivated him in regard to them, and indeed to all other aspects of public policy, were recognised and respected.
Éamon de Valera and James Dillon were totally opposed to each other on many issues, yet both held each other in the highest respect. When James Dillon retired from Irish public life some 17 years ago Dáil Éireann lost one of its most prominent, colourful and interesting Members. Through his death our country has lost an Irishman of dedication, sincerity and integrity. I wish, on behalf of my colleagues in the Fianna Fáil Party, and myself, to join in this expression of most sincere sympathy with the widow and family of the late James Dillon. Ar dhéis Dé go raibh sé.
I should like to be associated, on behalf of the Labour Party, with the words spoken in tribute to James Dillon. James Dillon served his country well as a superb parliamentarian, as an innovative and successful Minister for Agriculture in two Governments and as leader of his party, the Fine Gael Party. While he will be remembered as a superb orator, with the power to move an audience and keep it spellbound, he had many other personal qualities which endeared him to all of those he worked with. On a personal level I should like to tell the House that my father has described James Dillon to me as a man of unfailing courtesy and kindness whose contribution to public life was immense.
He deserves also to be remembered for another of his qualities. He was a democrat in the truest sense of the word. He believed totally in the supremacy of the will of the people and there were a number of occasions when he carried out that will even when it must have been personally painful to him. I should like to extend the condolences of my party to his family and to express the hope that the spirit of democracy which he characterised will always prevail in this House. We could pay him no greater tribute.
I should like to be associated with the tributes which have been paid today to the late Mr. Dillon and to say that, while I had the honour of serving in this house with him for only a year or two, I can recall vividly his contribution to various debates at that time, some important and some less so. Nonetheless, his contributions were extremely important and compelling ones. He was a man who stood for a particular tradition which to a large extent has now come to an end, but he brought great honour to that tradition and great honour to this House. It is a matter of great sadness that he has now passed away. I should like to be associated with the expression of sympathy to his widow and family.
Members rose in their places.