Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I would like to commiserate with the Taoiseach as the leader of Fianna Fáil and with the Fianna Fáil Party on the passing of Seán MacLiam. John Wilson was born on 8 July 1923 and he died on 9 July 2007. During the 84 years between those two dates he lived a full, honourable and deeply connected life to his family, his constituency, his party, his principles and, above all, to his country. On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I am honoured to pay tribute to somebody for whom I had a very deep measure of respect and who was both a gifted and good man. He was, as everybody who knew him knows, a person of great wit and charm, a very formidable adversary in this House and a proud and passionate member of the Fianna Fáil Party. That party is a lesser party for his passing.

John Wilson was always an impressive man in so many ways. In politics, since he was first appointed by the late Jack Lynch to the Fianna Fáil Front Bench, he impressed in his constituency, he impressed here in the House and he impressed in the many roles he played in Irish politics and, through that, in Irish life. His professorial image in the House, with that great mane of silver hair, is something that will remain in people's minds for many years. Through the years of his public service he held portfolios that impacted significantly on the day to day life of this country — Tánaiste, Minister for Defence, Education, Transport, Communications, Posts and Telegraphs, Tourism and the Marine. I know he was particularly proud, because I spoke to him about it, of his work for the families of the disappeared. I am quite sure those families were reassured and comforted in the knowledge that John Wilson's sincerity and conviction in attempting to determine their loved ones whereabouts was genuine.

In education, tá a fhios ag gach duine gur thug sé buntáiste faoi leith do ghaelscoileanna na hÉireann ó thaobh na Gaeilge de, mar thug sé buntáiste faoi leith do na muinteoirí as ucht an Ghaeilge a bheith mar theanga labhartha acu.

On the sports field, he was a talented and physically and mentally tough individual. That is evidenced by his experience of winning five Ulster Championships when football was much more physical than it is today. His obvious delight in beating Kerry in 1947, something my county has not repeated in a long time, is still recalled with great pride.

I had the privilege of knowing John Wilson for many years and of serving with him on various committees. His contributions to debates were always well informed, eloquent and given in his particular staccato style. No person in my 32 years in Dáil Éireann has ever whipped a pair of spectacles off his face as fast as John Wilson. No film star ever drew a six gun with the speed of retort of the Wilson glasses. Much of what is said in the House is Greek to many, but this was literally so in John Wilson's case. He was a distinguished linguist and livened up many dull days in the Dáil. His jousts in Latin and Greek with Deputy Dick Burke, who preferred to be called Richard, were eloquent in the extreme. Whether they were talking about a two-teacher primary school in a remote part of a constituency or a major school development, the Wilson-Burke debates were a joy to behold. One might not know Agamemnon from Achilles or whether he was praising one or burying one, but he had his own way of doing so.

When he passed on we lost an esteemed colleague and some of us lost a good friend. His wife, Ita, and his children lost not only a loving husband but an adored and adoring father. John, Claire, Siobhán, Lucy, Maria and all his grandchildren were truly blessed to have such a father and grandfather. His brothers and sisters will grieve his loss in their lives. In their presence today, I am proud to be involved in this tribute to the memory of a man who lit up their lives in so many ways.

John Wilson was a towering figure in Cavan politics for many years. He exuded energy and the power that comes from people of deep conviction in their beliefs. He departed this world 210 years, to the day, after Edmund Burke, whom he greatly admired and often quoted. Edmund Burke wrote:

It is by imitation far more than by precept that we learn everything. What we learn thus we acquire, not only more efficiently but more pleasantly. This forms our manners, our opinions, our lives.

That was a lesson John Wilson knew, lived and taught by example. Go ndéana Dia grásta ar a anam dílis.

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