Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with my party leader, the Taoiseach and other Members in expressing heartfelt sympathy to Seán and to the members of the Power family, and, of course, to Kitty. The people of Kildare, when they elected the late Paddy Power, got two for the price of one because both of them gave loyal and dedicated service. We all realise that Kitty was the power behind the throne. She was, in many respects, a guiding light within the family.

My party leader stated that I used three words to describe Paddy: fair, fierce and fervent. They are fairly accurate descriptions. I never knew him to be anything other than fair in his dealings with the public or with other public representatives, and I had the privilege of working with him from the late 1970s onwards. He was fiercely loyal. He was loyal to his family, he was loyal to the people of Kildare and to the country, and he was loyal to his political party, and he never wavered in that loyalty. He was also fervent. One thing one would have to say about the late Paddy Power was that he was never half-hearted. He was never a milk-and-water type of individual. If he supported a case or a cause, by God did he support it entirely. On the many occasions on which I attended meetings with him, I have fond recollections of the table being banged and of Paddy insisting that whatever particular course of action was to be taken should be taken.

I considered it a great privilege to know him and to work with him. I believe I learned a great deal from him and from his exemplary commitment to public service that he demonstrated at every opportunity. He was somebody whom, throughout my life, both as a resident of Kildare and as a public representative, I admired and looked up to. For many who have entered public life in County Kildare, his example is one that we can look to, follow and hope to emulate. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

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