Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I extend my sincere sympathy to the family of Ruairí Brugha and to the Taoiseach and his party and I pay warm tribute to the always passionate and patriotic Ruairí Brugha, who died on 30 January. When news of the death of Ruairí Brugha broke on RTE that day, it registered with people all over the country because the Brugha name has a special place in Irish politics and history. In Cork, his death was greeted with particular sadness because another living connection was lost with the great and much loved Lord Mayor and patriot, Terence MacSwiney.

Ruairí Brugha was a gentle man in the literal sense. With his wife Máire, he worked tirelessly to foster justice, understanding and reconciliation in both North and South. I am sure it was not lost on his family that he passed away on the 34th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and on the same day that another great believer in peace, justice and civil rights, Coretta Scott King, passed away in the United States. A true statesman and eminent politician in his own right, he was elected to this House in 1973 and to the European Parliament in 1977. He became honorary president of the European Movement and was elected to Seanad Éireann, where he served until the late 1980s.

I know I speak for everyone here or, at least, those who knew him when I talk about Ruairí's unfailing courtesy and politeness throughout his political career. He was ever the people's representative and his work on North-South reconciliation was diligent, important and fruitful. Sometimes, Members stand up to pay tribute to all who were here before them, even though speakers may not have personally known the subjects of their comments. My contacts with Ruairí Brugha occurred most often in the Dáil Library, to which he was a frequent visitor. In whispered tones, he would pass on his comments on various issues and personalities of the day or news of current affairs and politics.

His marriage to Terence MacSwiney's daughter, Máire, united two of Ireland's most famous and potent political names. This extraordinary couple has been our link to a painful, complex and even shattering period of Irish history. Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera and King George V appealed to the British Government for the Cork Lord Mayor's life. Families and communities were divided by the Civil War. Hundreds of thousands lined the routes of funerals of Irish leaders who died before their time. In 1929, the British Home Office told a doctor looking for Terence MacSwiney's medical records that "the time has not yet come when the case of MacSwiney, which aroused such intense feeling only eight years ago, can be regarded as a mere matter of history". For the Irish people, especially the Brughas and the MacSwineys, that era and those events will never just be a mere matter of history. They are part of our story and who we are.

To his wife Máire, a woman gentle and dignified, I offer my sincere sympathy and the sympathy of the Fine Gael Party. I suspect she knows better than most that the dead we love are not very far away, but are our nearest neighbours. I offer sympathy to the Taoiseach and his party on the loss and passing of Ruairí Brugha. Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis.

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