Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join everyone in paying sincere tribute to the statesman, former Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, John Bruton. There has been a lot of commentary here today and I know John was a devout Catholic and a man of faith. I hope and believe that he is up there now, looking down, and is probably quite chuffed. It is often said that people are better regarded in death than in life but when people are living we do not always get the occasion or the opportunity for tributes like this. Maybe we should pay tribute while people are still around but that is not the way things work.

It is important in politics to acknowledge one's flaws. People in politics may think they do not have flaws but I am sorry to tell them that they do. John had his flaws too but he learned from those flaws. Others have talked about the famous meeting when, by all accounts, Dick Spring read him the riot act and told him why he was not going to support him as Taoiseach. When the opportunity fell to John, he knew he was not going to be mistaken again. He was going to change, to be a chairman, Taoiseach and head of Cabinet that was collegiate and collaborative and history has proven that.

There was great media coverage over the last few days on John's life, including an excellent package by David McCullagh on RTÉ yesterday. He talked about all of John's qualities, the things that went right for him but said that one thing he did not have was luck.Luck came in strange circumstances at the end of 1994 which one could argue possibly should not have happened. Thankfully, it did, and John got the opportunity to become Taoiseach in the Rainbow Coalition. He was unlucky not to be re-elected in 1997. After that, he was up against the formidable machine that was Bertie Ahern and, subsequently, he lost the leadership on that occasion.

Senator Cassells spoke about his dedication even after he left office. He ran again as a TD. I think Garret FitzGerald and Charlie Haughey ran after losing office as Taoiseach so it is not that it had not happened before but you can imagine a lot of people would say, "I have done enough now, I will step back". He ran again as a TD, got elected and was involved in serving his constituents in County Meath, a testament to his dedication as a constituency politician. You do not last that long as a constituency TD without looking after people close to you. It is important to acknowledge that as well. I lived in Trim in County Meath for a few years. I attended the Teagasc Grange facility outside Trim. At the time - it was around 1996 to 1998 - there was a lot of discussion about the EU food and veterinary office coming to Grange. John Bruton was given credit among the cohort in Grange and was involved in delivering that project. It was decided by the EU Council of Ministers at the time. A 22-acre field on the road on the corner of the Grange complex became known as John Bruton's field in my time there. The EU food and veterinary office went on to have its offices in the area.

John was a man of integrity. He was passionate about Europe. It was fitting that his final public position was EU ambassador to the United States. He was a man of peace who had no tolerance for terrorism. He believed in compromise and in understanding both sides on this island. He was proven right, of course, in that regard because we got the peace process by bringing two sides together following ceasefires. I started in politics when John was still a TD but no longer party leader and he left shortly afterwards so I do not have the intimate knowledge of serving directly with him but I knew him as somebody who believed, fundamentally, in democracy, the European project, decency and integrity. I extend my sympathies to his wife, Finola, his children, Matthew, Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth, his sister, Mary, his brother, Richard, and his extended family. I know Richard continues his brother's great dedication to public life. Who knows, maybe there will be future generations of Brutons in the years to come? Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h'anam dílis.