Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar mo shon féin agus ar son Sinn Féin, ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann agus le cairde an iar-Theachta Peter Mathews, a fuair bás an bhliain seo caite. On my own behalf and on behalf of Sinn Féin, I want to extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Peter Mathews, who sadly passed away in February 2017. As has already been alluded to, Peter had a relatively short but eventful and colourful political career. Of course it all started on "Tonight with Vincent Browne". It is unquestionably the case that Vincent Browne met his match in Peter Mathews, and perhaps vice versa.

Peter Mathews had a colourful career in national politics. He served the people of the Dublin South constituency with honour and commitment. As we know, before Peter was elected to this House he had a long and distinguished career in business and finance. While there were many things that Peter and I would debate and disagree on, we also shared an enormous amount of common ground. He was not just a very learned and intellectually gifted man; he remained a very curious person and was always open to having a debate. Sometimes, a Cheann Comhairle, he was willing to have the debate at length.

Peter was always in good humour. I always enjoyed speaking to him. Above all, he was a very kind person. He would be the first to extend condolences, solidarity or good wishes to colleagues as the circumstances dictated. I was the recipient of such kindness from him. He regularly quoted Susan, who was like the oracle advising him from afar. He was not slow to tell us that she sometimes chastised him as well.

The last time I met Peter was the Christmas just before he died. He bore his illness with considerable dignity. Although he was unwell, he remained defiant, determined and unrepentant in his strongly held views on the need for reform in Irish politics and the need for people outside the sometimes claustrophobic political circle to have a say and an influence. It is with great sadness at the passing of Peter Mathews that I join everybody here in extending our sympathies and condolences to his family. For his wife, Susan; his sons, James, John and David; and his daughter, Maria, he was a person of whom they are quite rightly very proud. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

See this speech in context