Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh arís le Nóirín agus clann MacGearailt ar bhás Gene Fitzgerald. Gan amhras, pholaiteoir den chéad scoth a bhí ann. Gaeilgeoir den chéad scoth ab ea é agus bhí sé cóngarach i gcónaí don ghnáth duine. Níl aon amhras orm ach go raibh dea-thionchar aige ar mhuintir Chorcaí agus ar mhuintir na tíre, ní amháin sa Dáil ach mar Aire agus, go háirithe, mar Ball de Pharlaimint na hEorpa. Go pearsanta, thug sé dea-chomhairle domsa i rith mo shaol, go háirithe i rith mo shaol polaitiúil.

It is my privilege to pay a warm tribute to my colleague and friend, the late Gene Fitzgerald. I wish to place on record my deepest sympathies to Noreen and the Fitzgerald family on the lost of Gene, who they loved so much. Gene was a colossus in Cork society. He started out in the GAA world as secretary of his local club, Cloughduv, at the very young age of 17. He was extremely enthusiastic and committed.

Many recall him cycling through the villages, byways and laneways — this was in the days before mobile phones — with a bag of hurleys on one shoulder and the jerseys on the back of the bike. He would personally call on every player and always got to the match on time. He brought that enthusiasm and commitment to political life also.

He probably has one of the best electoral records of any politician since the foundation of the State. He gave an extraordinary poll performance in his first election, the mid-Cork by-election in 1972. As his great friend and colleague Willie O'Brien told me, they had only a few days to prepare for the convention but got an extraordinary vote at the convention and went on to get an enormous vote for the party in the by-election at a time when the party's fortunes were not too good, prior to the 1973 election. He went against the national grain electorally, which was a testament to his popularity among his people. He was then able to move in, again at a difficult time, to the Cork South-Central constituency, which, due to Boundary Commission changes and so on, was a significant personal change for him. He was asked to do this on behalf of the party in order to become the political and electoral leader in the city of Cork, and of course he did extremely well, polling exceptionally well in view of the changed political environment.

As Minister for Labour, his basic trade union connections and principles and his involvement in the GAA stood him in good stead. Long before the sophistication of the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, Gene had his own unique way of resolving disputes. One of his colleagues in CIE told me a great story about how he solved one particular dispute — he invited those involved to Dublin and locked them in a hotel room with refreshments, telling them not to come out until they had a solution. This is one of the unorthodox interventions that solved many disputes in those days. As Minister for Labour and subsequently as Minister for Finance, he had a strong sense of his origins and his background in terms of looking after the less well off in society, particularly the elderly and those without employment. That was a strong principle that Gene always espoused in his political career, and he followed through on this in the European Parliament. This was in the era of Jacques Delors and the emergence of a social Europe, to which Gene was very committed and which has made a significant difference to the ordinary man or woman on the street in this country. We salute that commitment.

I wish to mention the personal guidance he gave us in the Fianna Fáil Party. The late 1980s were a turbulent time and in Cork we were under much pressure with the formation of new parties and so on. However, Gene held the people's nerve and the party's nerve during that period and gave great time and effort. Long after his retirement from politics he became president of the party in the constituency. He retained a genuine interest in politics — he loved the conventions and put forward names of potential candidates that would be good for the future. He had a great interest in the welfare of the people and gave much of his time to politics long after he had served in the House, which was a noble thing to do. Many of us in the party and many in Cork reflect that this indicated his genuine calling to the noble profession that is politics. We remember his contribution with pride and we remember his good sense of humour. At times, he would correct one in an effort to move on with something and get it done.

He will be missed deeply by Noreen and all the family. We in the Fianna Fáil Party will miss him, and the people of Cork will remember him with great fondness and affection in the months and years to come.

See this speech in context