Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to join in the votes of condolence. As a Member representing Cork South-Central, I, too, would like to be associated with the many words that have been said in honour of Eileen Desmond. On my first opportunity to vote as a citizen, which was in the election of June 1981, and before the foundation of the Green Party, I voted for her. She was a candidate in what was then the new constituency of Cork South-Central. It should also be noted that not only did she have personal difficulties as a widow bringing up a young family but she also had to cope with the fact that the constituency she represented, Mid-Cork, was quite a sprawling constituency when she was first elected. It stretched all the way from Rockchapel on the Kerry border to Crosshaven at the mouth of Cork Harbour. Although her health was not always as good as it could have been, even after her retirement from active public life she was regarded as a solid rock of support for the Labour Party and particularly for her daughter Paula, who remains very actively involved in Cork politics and who had the honour of being the first woman elected as chair of Cork County Council. Given the role Eileen Desmond played as a Deputy and Minister and her consistent support of politics at local and national levels, this House and all involved in politics and public life owe her a great debt. May she rest in peace.

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