Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----and Kieran Coughlan joined the Oireachtas Service and came to Leinster House. I encourage Kieran to write his memoirs because his span of service covers the election of eight different taoisigh. Consider the history involved in all of that alone, and the sense of drama that surrounded it. He has witnessed many general elections and he has served 11 holders of the Office of Ceann Comhairle. It is an extraordinary life span of contribution and service.

He has been a member of the constituency boundary commissions, so he has an intimate knowledge of every constituency. He, more than most, will have an inside knowledge of how the next general election will pan out, and he will have more time to analyse the different constituencies. He might be able to say that if a boundary had not been put in a certain area, such-and-such a person might have got elected as opposed to the person who is elected. It will be fascinating for him on a personal level given his intimate knowledge of every constituency and every local electoral area. He was also a member of the Referendum Commissions, which were a new and modernising development that emanated from court decisions and so forth. They are very important institutions in setting down markers and guiding us in how we organise and administer referendums now and in the future.

Kieran Coughlan also played a significant role in helping the Dáil to develop international relationships, particularly with Sir William McKay, the former Clerk of the House of Commons, and Charles Johnson, former Parliamentarian of the US Congress. I also think of his work with the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Tánaiste will agree that it took a long time to develop the North-South Inter-Parliamentary Association. It involved a great deal of painstakingly building trust between people from both sides and that was a significant achievement.

Above all, Kieran has been very diligent. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the House and particularly of the Standing Orders. The Ceann Comhairle will be the first to testify that all Members of the House are very anxious to comply with Standing Orders and do their level best to do that on an ongoing basis. Kieran's leaving will, perhaps, undermine our capacity to comply as best as we might with the Standing Orders into the future, but we will do our best.

Kieran was born and raised in Cork, which was a good advantage from the start. Like many Cork men I know, he exudes a very calm demeanour under great pressure. He always had a sense of the big picture in life and this Parliament has been the beneficiary of his wisdom and guidance. I thank him very much.

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