Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a ghabháil le clann Tomás Mac Giolla, a chailleadh le déanaí. Bhí prionsabail agus fealsúnacht poblachtánach aige. Bhí sé misniúil i ngach rud a dhein sé ina shaol polaitiúil. Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a chur in iúl dá chlann. Bhí an-aithne agam air nuair a bhí sé mar Bhall den Teach. Chuamar thar lear le chéile. Is maith is eol dom go raibh sé in ann amhrán a chanadh chomh maith le éinne anseo.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Tomás Mac Giolla and I extend my sympathies to his family, especially his wife May, and to welcome them today to Dáil Éireann.

Tomás Mac Giolla served in the House for a decade and had a long and distinguished career in politics. Tomás Mac Giolla was a Member of Dáil Éireann when I was first elected in 1984. He was a politician of sincerity and strong convictions with a long record of service, particularly to the people of Dublin.

Tomás Mac Giolla came from a family whose past was steeped in politics. His uncle had served in the House of Commons alongside Charles Stewart Parnell. His own journey in politics began in the late 1940s when he graduated from UCD with a degree in Arts and subsequently in Commerce. He began working as a revenue accountant with the ESB in 1947 when the anti-partition campaign of the late 1940s nurtured his interest in politics.

In the early 1950s Tomás Mac Giolla joined Sinn Féin and became a prominent member in that party, serving in its ard comhairle for much of that decade. He first stood for election to the House in 1961 in his native Tipperary but was unsuccessful. The following year he was elected president of Sinn Féin at a time when the republican movement was undergoing a period of transformation and reflection following the Border campaign. Tomás Mac Giolla was an avid reader and was strongly influenced by the writings of George Plant, the ideals of the United Irishmen as well as contemporary international socialist thinking. He, along with Cathal Goulding, brought this analysis to the development of Sinn Féin and sought to involve the party more in tackling social issues.

When the conflict in Northern Ireland erupted in 1969, his was a sane voice at a tumultuous time for politics on our island. He did his utmost to quell the flame when a full scale civil war looked like a distinct possibility. In a recent obituary, the wise and restraining influence Tomás Mac Giolla exerted on the republican movement was recorded by a young IRA volunteer who wrote:

One of my abiding memories of Tomás Mac Giolla was an encounter in the city of Derry in August 1969. I still had naïve notions of a short but glorious war with the British army which would drive the old enemy out of Ireland, after which everyone would live happily ever after. Tomás was not long dispelling those notions. He quite simply told me, and other volunteers who had come from all over Ireland to fight, that we should return home. He could see the explosive nature of the situation and counselled calm when everyone else was looking for guns.

Tomás Mac Giolla deeply regretted the spilt in Sinn Féin in 1970 and attempted a conciliatory approach with former colleagues. Although this division was the source of significant conflict and political bitterness over the years, Tomás Mac Giolla accepted that many of those who left his party had done so because they felt sincerely that abstentionism was the heart of republicanism.

History will record that Tomás Mac Giolla was prominent in leading the Official IRA to ceasefire in 1972. In one of his final in-depth interviews with Jason O'Toole, published after his death, Tomás Mac Giolla made clear his distress and revulsion at the Aldershot barracks bombing. He recognised the futility of violence as means of solving the problems of Northern Ireland. He also strongly maintained that the involvment by the Official IRA in the conflict was distracting from the development of progressive politics and the need to highlight social issues across the country.

Tomás Mac Giolla was a committed socialist and throughout his long career he remained unswerving loyal to his party which underwent a process of renewal and transformation as Official Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin the Workers' Party and finally the Workers' Party.

Tomás Mac Giolla's greatest commitment was to inclusive politics and he had a special regard for the disadvantaged in our society. He was a politician not afraid to change with the times. He saw politics, as with life, as a learning curve. He was not afraid to revise his positions, adapt them or to allow his political viewpoints to evolve for the betterment of the people he represented.

He was first elected to Dublin City Council in 1979 and remained a member for close on 20 years. Although a proud son of Tipperary, he viewed it as a great honour to be elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1993. Tomás Mac Giolla abhorred sectarianism and a major theme of his mayoralty was to build practical contacts between the people and the civic representatives of our capital city with both communities in Belfast, Lisburn and other areas in the North.

In February 1982, the Workers' Party under Tomás Mac Giolla's leadership became the first party since 1957, apart from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour, to have at least three seats in the Dáil. Although he was an unsuccessful candidate in that election, as his party's president, he negotiated an agreement for the Workers' Party to support Mr. Charles Haughey's minority but short-lived Government.

In the second election in 1982, Tomás Mac Giolla was elected to the House for the first time. He topped the poll in the Dublin West constituency which was a considerable achievement given that he was competing with strong vote-getters such as the late Brian Lenihan Senior, the late Liam Lawlor and the late Jim Mitchell, among others.

During his time as a Member, Tomás Mac Giolla proved himself to be an astute and committed parliamentarian. He was widely praised for his work rate and diligence even by his party's critics. In this House, he was a strong supporter of part-time workers. He was also a trenchant supporter of peace on the island and a passionate advocate of the civil rights agenda in Northern Ireland.

In a tribute following his passing, Senator Eoghan Harris wrote that Tomás Mac Giolla was a true pioneer of good politics, especially in his efforts to transform mindsets on relationships with the Unionist community. He will be remembered as an early advocate of the principle of consent and as someone who believed the best way to progress on this island was to extend the hand of friendship to the Unionist community.

His final address as Workers' Party president in 1988 underlined the need for mutual respect between the two traditions on this island. It was welcomed then by a leading Unionist politician, Ken Maginnis, who said that Tomás Mac Giolla had kept the best wine until last. The Irish media also noted his contribution to inclusive politics as president of his party for over quarter a century by strongly praising his courage in helping to bring about the transition from gun to ballot.

Tomás Mac Giolla said the Workers' Party-Democratic Left split was his greatest disappointment. He, however, did not let this event towards the end of his career in Leinster House impinge on his activitism and his commitment to politics.

In his life outside of the Dáil, Tomás Mac Giolla remained active on the ard comhairle of the Workers' Party until he passed away. He continued to passionately represent the needs and concerns of his community, neighbours and friends in Ballyfermot and throughout west Dublin. He also maintained a great pride in Ireland's history, heritage and native language. He always had a huge interest in historical commemoration. At one point he unsuccessfully lobbied the then Taoiseach, Mr. Charles Haughey, on behalf of Orangemen seeking to stage a tercentenary commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne at the battlefield site. In changed times we have seen the elected leaders of both the great democratic assemblies of this island walk that battlefield side by side in friendship. Tomás Mac Giolla would have taken pride in such progress.

He was a true believer in Wolfe Tone's maxim of uniting Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. His lifelong interest in the United Irishmen made him a great source of knowledge on the Dublin committee to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 1798 rebellion.

He also long held the view that it was "ludicrous to draw comparison between the 1916 leaders and those engaged in terrorism". As far back as 1991, at the time of the 75th anniversary of the Easter Rising, he was clear there was a need to more fully and publicly commemorate it. In recent times he was a member of the group that campaigned to save No. 16 Moore Street and I understand he was enthused by plans for a significant and inclusive celebration of the 100th anniversary of the rising. On behalf of my party, I extend my sympathies to Tomás's wife, May, his sister Evelyn, his extended family and friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

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