Expressions of sympathy on the death of Mr. Frank Taylor shall be taken now and the Order of Business proposals shall be taken after the completion of the expressions of sympathy.
Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.
I wish to start by saying publicly in the House to the Taylor family that we share their deep sense of loss. No one will feel this loss more deeply than his widow, Ann Rita, and his daughters Madeleine, Ann, Rosemary and Deirdre, his sons-in-law and grandchildren.
Frank Taylor was a man for all the people. He made no distinction between people on the basis of party affiliation or status. He helped everyone he could help.
Frank Taylor was also a very modern politician. Modern politics requires, above all, the skill of conciliation. Frank was a politician whose conciliatory skills were immense. He was a man who sought peace and consensus in all the fora in which he served. He even sought to bring consensus and power-sharing to Clare County Council, a place where party passions sometimes run high and where power-sharing is not the norm.
I remember when Frank Taylor and I were first elected to the Dáil in 1969. There were many arguments within the Fine Gael Party at that time and contrary positions were frequently advocated at our meetings. Frank always sought to find agreement and consensus within the party.
Frank Taylor was a very loyal man. He defended the decisions of his party, even where he might personally have not agreed with every detail. Above all, Frank was a patriotic Irishman. His patriotism is best exemplified in his service in the FCA. He joined it when it was known as the LDF in 1940. While most people who joined the LDF at that time gave up their membership at the end of the war, Frank Taylor continued in the FCA, rising to the rank of commandant, until 1969. As somebody who also served in the FCA, I remember talking to him about this shortly after he was elected to the Dáil. One of the hardest things for Frank Taylor about being elected to the Dáil was that it required him to give up his membership of the FCA. Frank had a deep respect for the nation's armed services, the Army, the FCA, the Naval service and the Air Corps. He recognised them as the final defence of our democracy. The tricolour and his military cap and gloves on his coffin at the funeral in Kilkee exemplified the patriotism of Frank Taylor. So also did the exemplary presence there of a colour party from the FCA.
Frank Taylor was proud of his native county of Clare and proud of his roots in the soil. He wore the Clare jersey with pride as a minor footballer. He became the first chairman of Macra na Feirme in Clare. He was a founder member of Macra na Feirme nationally. We should not forget what we owe to him and all the other people who founded Macra na Feirme in the dark days for farming in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, for it was from Macra na Feirme that so much else grew — the IFA, the ICMSA, FBD, the Irish Farmers' Journal, are all entities that came into being directly as a result of the foresight of the founders of Macra na Feirme like Frank Taylor.
Frank first stood for elective office in 1950 as a Clann na Talúin candidate for Clare County Council. He was narrowly defeated. He returned to the fray in 1955 and was elected to Clare County Council as a Fine Gael member and held his seat there until he retired. He was elected to the Dáil in 1969. All of us who served in the Dáil with Frank will have different memories and stories about him. My abiding memory of Frank is of his sense of humour of the leg-pulling variety. No matter how serious or difficult the circumstances, Frank Taylor cheered people up. He had a twinkle in his eye and a natural charm that overcame many difficult political challenges and awkward personal situations.
Although he enjoyed the hard and demanding work that is part of politics, Frank Taylor's priority was always his family. He believed in the maxim that politics is not just about how much you know, it is much more about how much you care. He was very proud of the fact that his daughters all followed him into professions that involved caring for people, Madeleine in particular, who went into politics, and they carry his values forward today in their lives. All express in different ways the value of care for others that epitomised the life of the late Frank Taylor.
I join the expression of sympathy on the death of Mr. Frank Taylor, a former distinguished Member of this House. May he rest in peace.
Frank Taylor was in the Dáil when I was first elected and I remember him well for the reasons Deputy John Bruton has mentioned. He was a character who would always exchange banter in a friendly way. On my way to my office we would exchange light hearted comments about whatever was going on in the House. He never took matters to heart and at the end of the Order of Business or Question Time he would have a few jokes about what had happened. I met him on a number of occasions when he visited the House after his retirement.
He gave excellent service in the Dáil for the Clare constituency from 1969 until his retirement in 1981. He was succeeded in the Dáil by his daughter, Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, who continues to serve in the Oireachtas. During his career he made a valuable contribution on farming issues. His membership of the IFA, the ICMSA and being a founder member of Macra an Feirme were testament to his lasting commitment to the agricultural community. He was a farmer by profession.
He served in the FCA for a long period. He had a great attachment to that organisation and I recall that he regularly spoke in the House on defence issues. He loved sport and, unusually for his time, played Gaelic football and rugby with his home clubs. I am not sure how he managed that in those days but he got around the ban somehow. He served his constituents well at national and local level, serving on Clare County Council for several decades, where his focus was on agriculture, tourism, schools and the general development of the Shannon region.
Those who remember Frank Taylor will remember him above all as a gentleman and an astute politician who exerted a calming and conciliatory influence on those with whom he had dealings. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil party I offer my deepest condolences to his widow Anne Rita and his daughters, Senator Madeleine, whom we all know and respect, Anne, Rosemary and Deirdre, to his extended family and his colleagues in the Fine Gael party. Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
On behalf of the Labour Party I express my condolences to the Taylor family on the death of Frank Taylor and to Fine Gael, which has lost a person who made a major contribution to the work of that party over many years, a contribution which is being continued by his daughter Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn.
The contribution that Frank Taylor made to civic society over many years in so many organisations is a reminder of a generation of people which saw that their contribution to life was as much about making a contribution to the consolidation of civic society as looking after their immediate family interests. Deputies are aware of the difficulty parties have in convincing people to make a contribution to civic society, in whatever form they chose to make it. There is a lesson to be learned. It will be noted from reports of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development or from the Taoiseach's report on the ASEM meeting that many of the problems which other societies face in coming to terms with the modernisation of the global economy relate to the fact that too few people are prepared to give their time to civic society in the many organisations that comprise a modern democracy.
Without organisations such as Macra na Feirme, trade unions, credit unions or residents' associations and without the people who make such organisations work our type of society would not work. We pay tribute to the memory and contribution of Frank Taylor and in doing so we salute a kind of service which we cannot presume will continue into the future with the same degree of dedication and lack of self interest which characterised him and his generation. I extend sympathy to his family.
Thar ceann mo pháirtí ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a chur in iúl do chlann Phroinsias Uí Tháiliúir as ucht an chailliúint mhóir an tseachtain seo. Bhí aithne agam ar Frank nuair a bhí sé ina Bhall den Teach seo. Fear an-lách, anchineálta, stuama a bhí ann agus a thug sársheirbhís do mhuintir na hÉireann, go háitiúil ar an chomhairle chontae agus go háirithe sa Teach seo, áit ina raibh sé mar Bhall de Dháilcheantar Chontae an Chláir ar feadh cuid mhaith blianta. I knew Frank Taylor for many years and shared a great passionate interest with him in a number of matters, particularly the development of the FCA, an organisation to which he gave loyal service having joined it in 1940. It awarded him its highest rank — commandant — which was a source of great pride to him. He was a man rooted in the soil who had great wisdom. He did not participate in conflict politics but was always willing to see the other point of view and act as mediator.
I remember many happy days with Frank and I extend my sympathy to his family, particularly Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn.
On behalf of Democratic Left I join in expressing sympathy on the death of Frank Taylor. I did not know him personally but before I become active in politics I had heard of him and I knew of the high regard in which he was held in County Clare. Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh lena chlann, go háirithe len ár gcomhleacaí, an Seanadóir Madeleine Taylor-Quinn agus le Fine Gael.
Ar son an Chomhaontais Glas ba mhaith liom comhbrón a dhéanamh le clann Taylor agus le muintir Fhine Gael tar éis bás Frank Taylor. I have the honour to know his daughter Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn but I did not know Frank Taylor. I am impressed greatly by the tributes paid to him by those who knew him and I am sorry I did not know him. I applaud his sense of public service and his commitment to County Clare over many years. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Members rose.