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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 Mar 1995

Vol. 142 No. 9

Death of Member. - Expression of Sympathy.

I regret to tell the House, before the Order of Business, that we have a vote of sympathy on the death of the late Deputy John Fox, a Member of the other House. Following tradition, I will call the leaders of each group and anybody from County Wicklow who wishes to contribute may then do so.

Over the past while, we have all become accustomed to votes of sympathy. However, in almost all cases, we were speaking of somebody who had been taken from us in the fullness of time, somebody who had a led a full life and had retired. In the case of the late Deputy Johnny Fox, we are talking of somebody who was taken from us suddenly and very tragically in the prime of his life.

The late Deputy Johnny Fox was a Member of Dáil Éireann for just over two years. However, in that time, it is true to say that probably everybody in both Houses had their own special relationship with him and their own memory of him. Everybody will recall his humour, common sense and tremendous humanity. They will also recall his great love of County Wicklow and all its aspects, from its sport and environment to its people in particular.

The late Deputy Johnny Fox was very much a people's person. It is important to remind ourselves that politics is as much, if not more, about people as it is about policies or principles. Deputy Johnny Fox's love of the people of Wicklow, whom he was very proud to serve, came through in everything he did. All of us who knew him knew that he was a person of integrity, somebody who was straight and who never took himself too seriously. He could never be pompous and his wry ironic sense of humour was always evident. He was also a person of great political and personal independence. All of us have been genuinely touched by his sudden death and we will all mourn him personally. The people of County Wicklow will mourn in a very special way the passing of Deputy Johnny Fox. On behalf of the House, I extend our deepest sympathy to his wife and children and to the people he served so well.

On behalf of Fianna Fáil, I extend our sympathy to Susan and family on the death of the late Deputy Johnny Fox. I had the pleasure of meeting Johnny on various Seanad election trails. Even on one's first encounter of him, one felt one became his friend. This friendship extended to the House when he was elected. He was a great character and an honourable and decent person. Others from the party in the constituency will speak on other areas, but I express our deep regret that a great character and a very decent person was taken in so short a time.

On behalf of the Independents, I wish to say how deeply I regret the passing of Deputy Johnny Fox and I express our sympathy to his widow and children. He was an example of the incredibly hard work put in by so many Deputies in large constituencies. When one considers the day Deputy Johnny Fox had spent before his death, one cannot underestimate the work put in by such people. In addition, he had the work on his farm, which also had to be kept going, and we all know of his involvement in sports in the area.

I also wish to mention his involvement in the Church of Ireland within the diocese of Glendalough. Without him, a large number of people will feel that a very strong voice for the whole community in the area is missing. Whoever replaces him has a very serious job on hand.

We all mourn the passing of the late Deputy Fox and on behalf of the Progressive Democrats I extend our sympathy to his wife Susan, his family and his constituents. The people of Wicklow were well served by a public representative of his calibre. It was a shock to hear on Saturday morning of his sudden death on Friday night at a function where he was doing his elected duty of being with his constituents. He was a model for public representatives and for society in the way he held to his beliefs and spoke out those beliefs without fear or favour.

He was a good humoured, courteous and decent man in every respect and his loss will be greatly felt. His passing underlines the commitment which public service requires and that there can be a high price to pay. He was a man who crossed the religious, social and sporting divides in his county. He will be greatly missed and we extend our sympathy to his family.

On behalf of the Labour group I join in extending our sympathy to the family of the late Deputy Fox. As Senator Manning said, we all have personal memories of him. I first met him when I went to canvass him in the Seanad campaign. I went up the side of the Sugarloaf Mountain, up the narrow winding roads and into his farmyard. The picture we have seen on television greeted me — he came out on his tractor and gave me a warm reception, as I am sure he gave to all here who canvassed him. My memory is of him sitting on his tractor, the farmer and the friendly politician. He enjoyed being a politician and enjoyed representing his constituents. He will be sadly missed by them, particularly, as he went at such a young age. We extend our sympathy to his wife and family.

With many in Wicklow I find it impossible to come to terms with this tragedy. It is a real tragedy for his family and many friends and for politics. The late Deputy Fox's sad departure is yet another tragic example of the toll political life exacts from an individual and the sacrifice it exacts from their family.

I knew him for a long time and he was a unique character in many ways. He was a hard man on the GAA field and he was also at home with the oval ball as he also played rugby — bans had no place in his sporting lexicon. He was a hard man in politics as well. We had many clashes while he was a member of Fianna Fáil and subsequently, but after a clash he always had a wry humour which could take the sting out of it. He was a populist in the positive sense, yet he was never cowed by political correctness. If he believed the most unpopular line was one he should espouse he was quite willing to espouse it.

Although he was good at debate, his particular and unique strength was with the ordinary men and women of Wicklow. He had forged an extraordinary bond with people. His real concern was the concerns of the individual, the concerns of the powerless citizen who had nobody to speak for them. He ran up against officialdom and it would take a long time to record some of the more colourful incidents in the county council, for example, over a long career. The unique aspect was that he always argued the case for the ordinary person.

There are many people in Wicklow who are genuinely distraught at this loss. I have not seen such grief among adults as I witnessed at his funeral in Kilmacanogue. He leaves behind many heartbroken friends and, of course, a family — Susan, Mildred, Christopher, Ruth and his sisters Pat and Dorothy. They will never be able to replace him. They are good people and their strength, beliefs and faith will carry them through this. We have all been enriched in no small way by our contacts with Deputy Fox. He will be a hard man to follow. There is a big gulf in politics in Wicklow and it will not be easily filled.

I would like to associate myself with the vote of sympathy on the death of Deputy Fox.

There are two striking characteristics of Deputy Fox's political career. One was his deep convictions, which many of us did not hold or share, which he held with enormous dignity in very controversial circumstances and which he stuck to, as Senator Dardis said, through thick and thin. The other characteristic, which Senator Roche touched on, was that although virtually everybody who came across Deputy Fox in politics disagreed with him at some stage, everybody left either the Chamber or Wicklow County Council a friend. He never took any personal rancour outside any chamber in which he debated. That is a particularly lasting and endearing characteristic which I shall remember.

He was a true Independent in that he spoke his mind, whether within or without the party — indeed, this was one of the reasons why he was not in a party at the end of his career. He managed, even as an Independent, to put an extraordinary and unique coalition of forces together in County Wicklow. He managed to draw rural and urban support from both male and female, young and old. Deputy Fox enjoyed an exceptional and unique respect among every section of Wicklow society which, to its great credit, elected him at the last election.

The last point we should remember about Deputy Fox, as Senator Roche rightly said, is that he was a populist. The small man or woman who had no one else to approach went to him. He was the man who stood for the ordinary Wicklow person against the big battalions. That is how I will always remember him and I would like to be associated with the vote of sympathy.

Before we say a prayer, could I say that I too was deeply saddened to hear on Saturday of the death of Deputy Fox. I heard about it on Saturday. I have very happy memories of him over the years and I will miss him very much. To me, he was very much his own man. He arranged on my behalf and that of my family one of the loveliest holidays we ever had in County Wicklow a few years ago. I regret his passing. I was sad but at the same time honoured to attend his funeral on Sunday evening. I offer my sympathy to Susan and his family on this very sad occasion.

Members rose in their places.

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