Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As a Deputy for Louth, I very much welcome the opportunity to share the tributes made to a very decorated predecessor in my county, the late Pádraig Faulkner. His family, his party – Fianna Fáil - his village of Dunleer, and the county of which he was immensely proud, can be immensely proud of his achievements, his integrity and his record of selfless public service.

The best tribute I can pay, arguably, to Louth’s most successful politician is to say that his name, his achievements and his fine legacy will live very long in the memory. I was never fortunate enough to have met him in person. He retired from elected office when I was just 11 years of age. He was very much a household name in the county that I am proud to represent. He was a man who, when many of the ills that had infected politics came to the surface, stood proudly and courageously as a paragon of integrity. His time as a public representative was absolutely synonymous with the values and principles of honesty, decency and integrity in public life and in the highest of public office.

Importantly, he was proud to be a famous son of Dunleer. From speaking with locals in the village and across the wider county, I know that he was proud of that village. He wrote and researched widely on the history of the village and the mid-Louth area with his son, Tom.

As Deputy Martin mentioned, he was also synonymous with one of the most significant social measures ever introduced in this State. The development of the regional technical college, RTC, sector gave opportunities for further and higher education to segments of Irish society that previously could only longingly aspire to higher education attainment and advancement. This was a crucial development in the making of a better, more equal Ireland. It is a tremendous epitaph for any political career when it can be said with certainty that one's work made Ireland a more equal country and a better place in which to live.

I take this opportunity to express my personal condolences and the condolences of all members of the Labour Party in County Louth to his family - his wife, Kitty, his daughter, Mary, and his sons, Tom, Bartle and Pat - and to the people of Dunleer and Louth on our recent loss.

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