Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was not so young when I first became a Member, as I was a long time knocking at the door. There are many younger people than me who made it to the House.

I arrived alone to the House 16 years ago in 1997. It was a cold place politically. However, as I have said previously about the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas, they have all been extremely courteous and helpful in guiding a new Member, particularly somebody who had nobody to relate to from within their party grouping in previous service. For me, Kieran Coughlan stands out as certainly the most accessible, helpful and courteous of all. He is an outstanding administrator, as has been demonstrated to us time and again. He is a public servant of the highest calibre, epitomising the very best that our public service offers on an ongoing basis. That must be acknowledged.

His skill in addressing, overcoming and, indeed, getting around obstacles if required, has been shown on countless occasions. That is acknowledged by the experience of the greater number of Members who have been here for a number of years. Kieran has always addressed all of the challenges with the clear intent of bringing everything to a resolution and getting to the correct and best place.

As has already been mentioned, his care, attention, diligence and work with those of us who laboured over recent years to achieve the establishment of the North-South Inter-Parliamentary Association is a clear example of the extent of Kieran's commitment to realising what is best not only for the Houses and the people of this State, but also with an eye to the needs of the people of Ireland and the need to work together to address the common challenges that life throws up to all of us irrespective of the part of the island in which we live. While for many the advent of the North-South Inter-Parliamentary Association last October might not have been the most seismic development arising from the Good Friday Agreement, for us who have laboured it is a very important milestone and one that in time will prove to be of outstanding worth.

Finally, replacing Kieran Coughlan, a man of outstanding worth in terms of his service to the Houses and to the people of Ireland, will be a very difficult job. He has been a unique person in my 16 years in the House and on my behalf and on behalf of the team I represent here, I extend a very sincere céad míle maith aige and wish him many years of happy and healthy retirement.

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