Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It seems to me that I grew up with Séamus Brennan. I remember in the 1970s watching "Seven Days" and seeing him appear on it, almost like a character from an American movie like "All the President's Men". He had the collar, tie, sideburns and hair to go with modern times and modern politics. I grew into political consciousness during the election of 1977, when all the razzmatazz and colour came from some of Séamus Brennan's thinking.

I remember growing up and seeing him appear on "Today Tonight" in the 1980s. It seemed to me as though he was one of the central characters in the tossing around outside the gates of Leinster House, as people came and went with great dilemmas as to what course of action or direction they would take regarding party loyalties. I recall Deputy John Gormley telling me in the 1990s, as he worked in opposition with Séamus Brennan as the Whip when the Green Party first came into the Dáil as a party, of what an honourable man and easy person he was to work with.

I only came to know Séamus Brennan face to face in the election of 2002, when I learned a lesson or two about some of those skills and political communication. He produced a leaflet during that election that demonstrated all his expertise and brilliance in political communication. It consisted of a satellite picture of the constituency showing every house in such detail that one could see one's own house. Dots on the map marked everything that had been done by the Administration with which Séamus had been involved for the previous five years and it constituted a brilliant piece of political communication because it was personal, simple and highly effective.

He had a highly effective team around him at all times. As an Opposition spokesperson, one would meet Bobby Holland, Frank Lahiffe or others at constituency meetings and one often would be obliged to take a step backwards as the healthy rivalry within the Fianna Fáil camp left little space for opposition. However, he himself, at all times, was an utter gentleman to deal with. I was an Opposition spokesperson engaged in the chess game of trying to catch him out as a Minister. However, this was not easy and he rarely was caught out. While he was gentlemanly and accurate, he also was a superb politician in terms of maintaining calm and intelligence in the midst of whatever frantic questioning was thrown at him.

I saw him in recent years on "Prime Time" as a Minister and in Cabinet, where he showed an incredible calm collected wisdom, even in what must have been incredibly difficult times for him as his illness progressed. He will be a huge loss to Fianna Fáil and also I believe will be a loss to the Government in turbulent times as all could benefit from such calm confidence and ability. Above all else, his loss must be terrible for his family. I remember that on starting out at that 2002 election, I told myself that as I have known Séamus Brennan for 30 years on television, he must be about to retire. I recall looking at his date of birth in Nealon's Guide and getting a shock on learning he still was a young man. His premature loss must be truly terrible for his family and our sympathies in the Green Party are with them today.

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