Regrettably our first task, on a very historic day, is a sad one, in which we will all take the opportunity of paying our individual and party tributes to our colleague, the former Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Gerry O'Sullivan, from Cork. With your permission, Sir, I ask you to call, first, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Labour Party to lead the tributes.
Death of Member: Expressions of Sympathy.
When Gerry O'Sullivan died his family lost a dearly loved husband and father, the people of Cork lost a tireless advocate and champion, this House lost one of its most promising Members and the Government lost an able and committed Minister. In common with my colleagues in the Labour Party I lost a close and loyal friend.
In Opposition, a number of years ago, I asked Gerry to become party spokesperson on Marine and Defence. There was nothing in it for him except hard work. He had no great experience of either area and it was just before the start of his summer holidays. He spent those holidays touring Army bases, talking to soldiers and officers, visiting fishing ports and marine research centres. He came back to me a month later full of ideas for change and improvements. From knowing very little he had quickly become a fount of expertise and knowledge in these areas. That was typical of Gerry O'Sullivan. He never took on a job he was not determined to do to the best of his ability. That is why he was an outstanding public representative, an outstanding Lord Mayor of Cork and a junior Minister who, in the short time he held the job, became widely and deeply respected in both sectors in which he was involved. He was respected for other things too.
We remember Gerry in the parliamentary party, we remember his enthusiasm, his good humour, his capacity to argue his corner trenchantly without ever losing a friend. He was a man of the highest principles and yet one of the most approachable members the Parliamentary Labour Party has ever had.
Nothing became Gerry as much as the way in which he coped with the serious illness that befell him last year. In many ways it was a terrible injustice. A man full of life and energy with a great gift of being able to motivate everyone who worked with him was struck down in his personal and political prime, but I never heard a complaint. He never lost any of the gifts he had and right up to the end he battled in the hope of being able to carry on his work. He died surrounded by those he loved most. He was a Cork man first and foremost and Cork loved him. The highest compliment that Cork people can pay is to say "He was one of our own". Again and again at his funeral I heard that remark about him. The people of Cork will long remember Gerry O'Sullivan who lived in the heart of his constituency always and who never once lost touch with the things that mattered most to him.
I still find it hard to believe that we have to say farewell to Gerry O'Sullivan. All of us in the Labour Party will miss his friendship and his company and we will never forget his courage and ability. On behalf of the Labour Party and all my colleagues I extend my deepest sympathy to Gerry's wife, Bina, and to Gregory, Sharon, Lisa, Trevor and Gerry — the family he loved so much. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Members of this House will join me in paying tribute to our dear friend and colleague the late Gerry O'Sullivan, Minister of State at the Department of the Marine and Deputy for Cork North Central who died on 5 August. Go ndéanadh Dia trócaire ar a anam.
Gerry was first and foremost a Corkonian. He brought to this House that fierce Cork pride and determination which drove him to protect and advance the interests of his native city, particularly his beloved north side. It was most apparent to me when I visited Cork how much a part of that great community he was. It is tragic, indeed, that his career as a Dáil Deputy and Minister of State was so cruelly cut short.
Gerry O'Sullivan was a man who had much to offer to this House and to this country. However, one should not forget that his Dáil career was underpinned by a long dedicated service to his community which contributed to his election to Cork Corporation in 1979 and his election as Lord Mayor in Cork in 1986, offices which he held with distinction and honour. He never forgot where he came from and always had time to talk and meet his friends and neighbours on Bakers Road and listen to their concerns. It was his wish to fight his last fight at home with his wife, Bina, and children and among the people he knew, the people he loved and served so well. He will be sadly missed by all of us. I had the privilege to nominate him for appointment as Minister of State at the Department of the Marine. He was bursting with new ideas and saw the potential and opportunities that were available to him in that Department.
On my own behalf and on behalf of the Government and all Members of the House I ask the Ceann Comhairle to offer our deepest condolence to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
I join the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in expressing my sympathy, and that of the Fine Gael Party, to the family of the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan. The Tánaiste's words, in particular, were very apt in regard to Gerry O'Sullivan when he spoke for Gerry's colleagues in the Parliamentary Labour Party about the human side of his character, something which all of us who came into contact with him got to know but, perhaps to a somewhat lesser extent than his colleagues and friends in the Labour Party. He was a tireless worker on behalf of the people of Cork and, as the Taoiseach rightly said, he had a particular loyalty to the north side of that city. He understood the special problems associated with unemployment that afflict that part of the city. It was a tribute to his understanding of those problems and his ability to represent in this House the people affected by them that at the last general election he achieved the signal honour of topping the poll in his constituency.
To those of us who in certain circumstances may have had to oppose his political views, he was a person who dealt with opposition in a courteous and gentle way. He understood disappointment and hardship during his life. Many Members may not know that Gerry O'Sullivan lost his job in the Dunlop company in the 1970s, a traumatic experience for anybody. The courage with which he met and so successfully overcame that setback in his life was again shown in the way he faced the much more serious challenge posed to him by what proved to be a terminal illness. Gerry O'Sullivan's character, more than in any other way, was demonstrated by the way he coped with his illness, by the way he was able, though ill, to give so much support and courage to his immediate family who were suffering greatly and fearing the imminent loss of a person they loved dearly.
I join with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in saying how sorry we in the Fine Gael Party are for Mrs. Bina O'Sullivan and all the members of his family in the dreadful loss they suffered, a loss that all Members of the House who have known Gerry O'Sullivan share in some measure. That sense of shared loss may be some small consolation to the O'Sullivan family in this very difficult time.
I, too, join with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Leader of the Fine Gael Party in expressing my sympathy to Gerry O'Sullivan's widow and family. Since becoming Leader of the Progressive Democrats ten months ago I have had the sad experience on a number of occasions of rising here to express sympathy at the death of a former colleague. This is the first time I rise to express sympathy at the death of a person I knew and a sitting Member of the House. Gerry O'Sullivan's death marks the first time in ten years a sitting Member of the House has died.
Gerry O'Sullivan was not a person I knew well, but from what I did know of him I found him to be an ordinary and lovely man. Despite his rather mild manner he was never afraid to take a stand and in 1986 as Lord Mayor of Cork he resigned from the board of governors of UCC because he disagreed with its decision on the disposal of land at Fota. That characterised the type of courage he subsequently showed in trying to fight his illness. He will be a great loss to this House, his constituents in Cork, his family and, particularly, to the Labour Party. I extend my sympathy to the Tánaiste, to his colleagues in the Labour Party and to his family on this sad loss.
It was with a sense of deep sadness I heard of the death of Gerry O'Sullivan and that he had lost his long and determined battle with his illness. He was one of those rarities in that he was popular across party lines and became a firm friend of those who met him. It was characteristic of him to have fought his illness with such determination. He championed the cause of those he felt were oppressed or marginalised — the poor and the unemployed — especially in his city. It is a cause of great sadness that he should have died at- such an early age and before being able to complete the work he had set out to do. I convey the sympathy of my party and myself to the late Deputy O'Sullivan's wife and family, to the community which has lost a tireless representative and to the Labour Party.
I wish to be associated with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other leaders in paying tribute to my former colleague, the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan. Most Members knew the late Deputy O'Sullivan as a political colleague. In my case he was a personal friend also. From the time he entered politics in what was then the Cork city constituency, part of which I now represent, Gerry and I were closely associated. We were near neighbours, born a few hundred yards apart on the south side of the city.
The late Deputy O'Sullivan did not have an easy life. He was orphaned at an early age and was a widower with two young children before the age of 30. He suffered the trauma of the breakdown in the industrial base of Cork in the mid-eighties and, in particular, of the closure of Dunlops.
I was presiding at a meeting of the Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy when the late Deputy O'Sullivan, who was introducing maritime legislation, received, during a sos, news of the seriousness of his illness. He left the meeting, but returned later to complete the business. That is merely one small example of the courage he was to display in subsequent months. The courage he showed despite the many painful operations he had to undergo in the months prior to his death demonstated what the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan was made of. I am proud to have been one of those who nominated him for the office of Lord Mayor of Cork. One of his abiding qualities was that he never complained regardless of what life handed to him. He was prepared to take life as it came. It was indeed a harsh blow that, like at least two of his predecessors from the Cork constituency, the late Seán Casey and the late Pat Kerrigan, his life, too, should have ended prematurely.
Those of us who worked with the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan are aware that it will be difficult for the Labour Party to find a replacement of his equal in Cork. However, the greatest loss will be felt by his wife Bina and his family to whom I extend sincere sympathy. For my part, I have lost a close and very dear friend.
On behalf of the Green Party, Comhaontas Glas, especially the Cork Greens, and my colleagues in the Technical Group, in particular Deputies Gregory and Blaney seated beside me, I join with other speakers in extending sympathy to the O'Sullivan family, to the people of Cork, and to his colleagues in the Labour Party and in Government on the death of the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan. In politics one tends to be so preoccupied with the day to day business that news of the death of a colleague, especially premature death, comes like a bolt out of the blue, even when, as in the case of Deputy O'Sullivan, there has been a long illness.
As one who represents a maritime constituency I was appreciative of the work of the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan in the Department of the Marine. He was committed to his portfolio and served it well, often perhaps without being given due credit. I admired the late Deputy O'Sullivan as a man who stuck by his principles both in his professional and private life. The people of Cork have lost a great Deputy.
I would like to be associated with the previous speakers in expressing sympathy on the death of the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan who was a great friend of mine. From the time I entered public life, first at county council level and now as a Member of the Dáil, he was always willing to offer me advice. Up to only a fortnight before he died he telephoned me on a number of occasions concerning the crisis in Irish Steel. He will be a great loss to the Labour Party, to this House and to his constituents but above all to his wife and family. May he rest in peace.
As a constituency colleague of the late Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan, I too, extend my sympathy on his death to his wife Bina and his family and to the Labour Party. Gerry O'Sullivan and I entered politics on the same day in 1979 when we were both elected to Cork Corporation. During the years we were often political foes but we remained friends and his illness and death affected us all in a personal way.
Members rose.