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

Ar mo shon féin agus ar son mo pháirtí déanaim comhbhrón le clann Monica Barnes as ucht a bás. Is léir gur pholaiteoir den chéad scoth í a bhí dílis dá muintir agus do mhuintir na tíre seo go ginearálta. Bhí dea-thioncar aici ar pholasaithe éagsúla agus chuir sí carn na bpolasaithe sin i bhfeidhm.

I want to sympathise on my own behalf and on behalf of my party with Monica's family, her husband Bob and daughters Sarah and Joanne, her extended family and friends. She was a very warm and sociable person who easily crossed the partisan party-political divide in this House. She had many friends across that political divide. She is an enormous loss to Irish politics and of course a huge loss to the Fine Gael Party. She was courageous, she was outspoken, she was kind and she was considerate. She was a progressive voice at a time when that was not always welcome. She in many respects was ahead of her time, thought outside the box, and always spoke her mind. I admired her warmth, her passion and her commitment to the causes that she cared so deeply about. We hope that her family will draw some consolation from the rich legacy she has left the political world and the world in general. She was close to her community and she was one of the outstanding members of this House down through the generations. We were very saddened to hear of her loss last week. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.

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