Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

On behalf of the Green Party and my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, who cannot be hear this morning, I want to pay our respects to Joe Doyle and to extend our sympathies to his wife, Peggy, his daughter, Róisín, and sons, David and Michael.

I had the great fortune of knowing Joe Doyle. I served on the city council with him for five years. Three thoughts came to my mind when I thought of how I would describe him. He was a man of standing. I mean that literally in describing the way he would speak. He spoke in a clear and proper manner, confident in his honesty and views, even if they were not popular or the views of the day. He stood and spoke in a way that had real authority and standing. He was a man of physical stature in how he stood and spoke in a council chamber where I saw him speak.

He smiled a lot. He smiled at his own humour. I recall one simple incident. There is a very nice small council housing development in Ranelagh. He made some quip to the effect that if one got in there, one would have already got to heaven. He kept smiling after he made that nice quip. He had a good sense of humour.

He was also very successful. I was the director of elections for Minister Gormley's campaign in 1989. Joe achieved quite a trick, his constituency was divided between him and Garret FitzGerald. Joe was very much part of the team but still his own man. For his party to win two seats in a very tight election was a remarkable achievement. He was also a successful and capable councillor and Lord Mayor, as I witnessed. I had the fortune to join the council when he became Lord Mayor. He worked with the county manager, the council and the officials in an effective way. One could do a deal with Joe Doyle. As well as being a man of principle and standing, he also knew how to work and to do what politicians do, namely, to seek compromises and solutions.

On behalf of our party, I want to mark that huge public service he gave and to honour the man.

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