Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

On my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues in the Labour Party, I pay tribute to both Shay Byrne and Liam Lynch, who are leaving the service of Leinster House this week. I knew Liam Lynch before he joined the staff and even before I entered the House because he is a constituent and I knew of his skills in his previous craft with a knife. These skills are very useful in Leinster House, although I have to confess that I never saw or heard of Liam exercising them. I thank him for his service and for his courtesy at all times to me and to my colleagues.

I want to pay tribute, in particular, to Shay Byrne because of his length of service in the House and because he achieved the office of Head Usher and I thank him on my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues. I recall when I entered the House, Shay was in the post room at the time and he was extremely helpful in showing me, as I am sure he showed other Members, the way around the corridors, how to get things done, where things were and so on. Sometimes new Deputies have to rely on the advice and help of the ushers and the staff of the Houses more than on that of their colleagues to find their way and to find out the tricks of the trade.

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