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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Jul 2006

Vol. 184 No. 13

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.

Today we pay tribute to a former Member of this House, the late Luke Belton. He served in the Seanad for a short period in 1982 and from 1983 to 1987, both times on the administrative panel. He also had a very active Dáil career and served his Dublin constituency with great gusto. His family hails from Longford and the name Belton still features strongly in the Fine Gael Party in that county. The family is also connected politically with Avril Doyle MEP.

He was a strong constituency worker and very active in the Dáil. He introduced a Private Members' Bill on the purity of water, which fell on the dissolution of the Dáil. He maintained a constant presence in the Seanad, the Dáil and in his constituency and survived a complete and radical shake-up of his constituency.

I did not know him personally but the name Belton resonates with public service, with Fine Gael politics and with people who want to do something for their constituency and their people. He had all of those qualities in abundance.

We on this side of the House express our sympathy to his wife, Elizabeth, and to his four children, three sons and one daughter. When I told people I was to talk about Luke Belton they said they knew him well. He had a strong personality, as the Cathaoirleach will know, and was a very definite person, both of which are good attributes. He will be a great loss to the Fine Gael Party and his own family. We also convey our sympathy to his political family and the wider Belton family.

I join with the Leader of the House in expressing, on behalf of the Fine Gael Party in Seanad Éireann, our sympathies to the family of the late Luke Belton. Senator Ulick Burke is the only Fine Gael Senator who served with Senator Belton in the early to mid-1980s. Senator Ross and Senator Ryan also served with him, as may have Senator O'Rourke. I did not know him but met him around the Houses in recent years. It was nice that he continued to visit the House every so often and go into the bar to chat to people. As the Leader said, he was from a distinguished political family who have given tremendous public service to the people of this country over many years.

Over dinner last night I was speaking to a colleague who remembered Luke Belton well. I was told that when he first left Longford to come to Dublin to work in one of his uncle's pubs, he used to cycle from Longford to Dublin and back, though not all in the one day. He probably did not have the traffic difficulties he would have now.

A fact of which most are not aware is that he was the first Longford-born politician to represent a constituency outside Longford — Senator Bannon should take note — which is a distinguished example of how people in another part of the country, most notably in Dublin, took to him and regarded him, although he was not one of their own. He came to work in Dublin and was a very successful publican. With his brother, Paddy Belton, he managed to acquire an impressive number of pubs on the northside of Dublin over many years.

As the Leader said, he will be remembered as one who, with the Belton family, gave long public service to the country. His cousin, Avril Doyle MEP, is well known to us, as is a former colleague in this House and the other House, Louis Belton, who was Deputy for the Longford constituency.

We pass on our sympathy to his wife, Lil, his sons, John, Michael and Luke, and his daughter, Mary. This House and the Fine Gael Party understands and recognises the long service he gave to the Irish people, most notably the people of north Dublin, for over 20 years as a Member of the Seanad and Dáil. We will cherish that memory and it is right and proper that today we mark that memory and his great contribution to Irish politics.

It is normal on the Independent benches to ask a Member who served with the deceased to speak. Senator Ross is the only member of our group who served with Luke Belton but he has deferred to me in these circumstances, which I appreciate.

I did not realise when I married my wife that I was marrying into the Belton family and that, from then on, weddings, funerals and all sorts of occasions would include the Beltons. Luke was a generous man who fought his way up and stayed up. It was always a constant fight for him and was never easy. What the Leader refers to as the change in his constituency was much more than that. Luke's interpretation of that change was that the party head office dumped people on top of him by transferring Pat Lindsay from Mayo to take him on in an extraordinary election, which Luke was supposed to lose but, in the event, won by one vote, as I recall — I have not had time to check the circumstances.

He also served in this House as Government Whip. The first occasion I came into this august room was sometime in 1981-82. I called to see Luke Belton, as I was required to do for family reasons, although I was in the building on other business. I met him running out of the ante room and down the corridor. I asked him how he was. He replied, "I can't talk to you, Joe. O'Leary is voting against the Whip." That was the time when there was a left wing in the Fine Gael Party——

Much like the Senator. It is amazing how one can buy people off.

——and the now eminent member of the Judiciary, Sean O'Leary, was voting against the Offences Against the State Bill, as brought forward by the Government of the time. I always recall that occasion. The Government won the vote but former Senator O'Leary lost the Whip for a while. However, they shook hands later.

Luke had to work hard in business. The Belton name would always be seen as associated with wealth but, as Senator Brian Hayes rightly pointed out, while Luke came in as part of that, he had to work his way up. It was never that easy for him. He was always working to keep a business life and a political life going, so he was always on the edge. He and his wife, Lil, were always of the most generous nature and noted for being so, and they were very popular in their native Longford. It was on one a trip to a Belton event in Longford that I met the then potential councillor, now Senator and prospective Deputy, James Bannon, who was closely associated with them at that time.

It demeans tributes to talk too much in personal terms but I wish to record that Luke Belton was completely committed to political life. He loved it, wanted to make it work and gave it everything. He is a good role model. He did not become a senior Minister or anything like that, but he was a hard-working backbench politician who worked for his party and his country. To his wife, Lil, their four children and the Fine Gael Party, I offer my sincere condolences on behalf of the Independent Senators.

I served in the House with former Senator Belton and was glad to know him. He was, like many of us, permanently on the backbenches but contributed significantly nonetheless. He would fit into anybody's definition of the traditional Fine Gael spectrum, which meant he was a man of strong views that would not necessarily have coincided with my own. However, he was a man who held those views because he believed in them, not because there was some electoral advantage in them. They were values he inherited and values he would wish to pass on. Whether one agreed with all of those values, they were worthy of respect and sincerely held, which is a characteristic of Luke Belton and the distinguished political family of which he was a representative.

It is always worthwhile to pay tribute to those who pass through these Houses and serve. To put one's head above the parapet in electoral politics is one of the great risks to take in life as there is no guaranteed outcome. Those like Luke Belton who came to the Houses and tried to represent their constituents with the best of integrity are those who are particularly worthy of tribute. On behalf of the Labour Party, I pass on my sympathies to his party and, in particular, his family.

On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, I join with the Leader and the leaders of the other groups in paying tribute to the late Luke Belton. I extend our sympathy to his wife, his children, his extended family and his Fine Gael colleagues. He was steeped in the traditions and values of Fine Gael, and represented the party ably over an extended period. It is remarkable to consider that within the family, the Beltons have provided seven Deputies since the late 1920s, which is an extraordinary contribution to Irish public life and the State, and should be recognised.

Those of us who served with Avril Doyle MEP and former Deputy Louis Belton have them particularly in our thoughts when we remember Luke. He was a prominent member of the licensed trade and served on its committee when it was the Licensed Grocers and Vintners Association — it has come a long way since then. As Senator O'Toole stated, he struggled in business at a difficult time when pubs did not fetch the high prices we see nowadays. He made a serious contribution to the business life of the city as well as to the political life of the city and country. For all of those reasons, it is appropriate that we mark his passing and remember him with affection.

I join with other Senators in extending a vote of sympathy for the late Luke Belton. I offer my condolences to his wife, Elizabeth, and his four children. I knew Luke Belton before I became involved in politics. It was a cousin of Luke Belton, who happens to be an aunt-in-law of Senator O'Toole, who first encouraged me to get involved in politics——

A Senator

That was a bad mistake. It was bad advice.

——and the GAA. This was the late Molly Lynam-Clancy, who lived on the farm adjoining my own. I have known the Belton family over many years. They are honest, hard-working, decent farmers from south County Longford. That is where Mr. Belton had his roots and the family farm is farmed by his nieces, Ms Ann O'Reilly and Ms Evelyn Rooney. They are still active in Fine Gael in south County Longford and proud of their roots and heritage with the party.

And working for Senator Bannon.

As Senator Dardis said, seven members of the Belton family became Deputies in Dáil Éireann and we all know Louis Belton and Avril Doyle. I worked with Mr. Louis Belton on the council. A Belton commands the ship in Longford. Councillor Paddy Belton is mayor, or captain, of the county and he is a cousin of the late Luke Belton. At one time there were three Beltons on Longford County Council, all cousins, and that was a record. It has not happened in any other local authority, so they made history.

I knew Luke Belton. I met him when he used to visit his cousins in Longford. He never lost contact with his roots. When he came to Longford he would always take one, two or three days to visit every member of his family. When I was very young he visited his cousins in my parish of Legan and gave me five shillings.

(Interruptions).

And the Senator still has it.

Has the Senator declared it?

When a person gives money to one as a child, one always remembers it. He had great time for children, his family and the neighbours he left behind in County Longford. He always came to the funerals of family and neighbours despite the fact that he was busy in Dublin developing a business. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Mr. Belton was a gentleman from head to toe and he carried that to his grave. My sincere sympathies to his wife and family and to his extended family in County Longford and throughout Ireland.

I would also like to be associated with the tributes to the late Mr. Belton, who served with distinction in both Houses. He was elected to the Seanad on the administrative panel. I had the privilege of knowing him and the honour of serving with him and found him kind, gentle and a wonderful personality. He was humorous and had a wide circle of friends in this House across the political spectrum. I extend my sincere sympathy to his wife, Lil Belton, and his sons and daughters on their sad loss.

Members rose.

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