Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

On my behalf and on behalf of the Labour Party in west Dublin, I offer my condolences to Hazel, to her children, to Noel and to the extended Lawlor family.

Like everyone else, I was shocked at Liam's horrific death in the car crash in Moscow. To die so far from home and from the family who loved him so much is dreadful enough but the media coverage that followed his death must have added immeasurably to the burden of grief and trauma Hazel and the family have suffered.

As has been said by the Taoiseach and others, Liam was a large man but he was strikingly intelligent and had an extraordinary intellectual capacity for analysing problems and acting on his constituents' behalf. His son, Niall, put it best when he described his father's robustness in an interview with Pat Kenny. As someone who went up against Liam on a number of occasions, I can confirm that. It is no secret that Liam and I clashed repeatedly about planning issues in west Dublin but that debate is for another time. We had a truce over the Liffey Valley project, where we worked on a cross-party basis to ensure the important greenery that remained would be preserved.

I know the pride Liam took in his family because he often spoke to me about his children and, particularly, his grandchildren. In all the current grief, it is wonderful to know that he lived to see and enjoy the success of his children and found a new life in the grandchildren who have come along.

I do not know how many people remember election day 2002. In west Dublin it was accompanied by monsoon type rain and flooding. At 7 p.m. I took refuge like a drowned rat in Myo's in Castleknock. When I went in the door feeling miserable and dejected, I met Liam and a group of his golfing buddies who had abandoned their game. They were consoling me but Liam told me I would win. He was always confident about his predictions and in that he was right. It seemed odd, however, to have an election in west Dublin without Liam and his fabulous election machine.

I have known of Liam Lawlor since my youth. He was friendly with many of my relations, particularly the Doyles, an old Fianna Fáil family, and he and I often talked about our experiences growing up in working class Dublin. He was a man of tremendous ability and it is hard to think he is gone. I have always admired Hazel and nothing became her more than the way in which she behaved with such extraordinary dignity and courage under a media onslaught.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

See this speech in context