Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Okay Sinn Féin or Labour - given the day that is in it, I did not want to give the others too much recognition.

There are very few people in politics, particularly those in politics for 24 years, who leave politics with absolute respect and who still do not have anybody speaking badly about them. He was one of those unique figures. In many ways he was from the politics of a different time. He was rural, pragmatic but really ambitious for Cork and like all of the Creeds was insightful, really smart and really tough when he needed to be. That is a trait that we see now in his son, colleague and friend of mine in Cabinet at a tough time for the country, when it comes to agriculture and leadership in that crucial sector for our rural economy and indeed for our economy as a whole. Donal would be extraordinarily proud of the contribution that Michael is making at a time of potentially great peril for the agricultural industry and family farming across the country, given the links, concerns and vulnerabilities to Brexit.

Like the Taoiseach, I would like to quote Marcella, who spoke about her father at a very sad funeral and at a very sad period for that family, given that seven weeks earlier Claire had passed away in a very untimely way. She said of her father, first of all that he had a life well-lived. That is true and is reinforced from all statements here today. She also said, which really summed him up from everything that I have heard about him, that her father was always at heart a farmer, who loved both the land and nature but also took enormous pride in being elected by the people of Cork North-West to represent them in the Dáil from 1965 to 1989. In some ways that sums up who he was, which was an incredibly modest man who loved the land, walking the land and cultivating the land, particularly in his retirement with his children and grandchildren. He was also somebody who, quietly at times but very firmly, made a huge impact on public life. That is being recognised today.

I say to his family, to Madeleine, of course, but also to Marcella, Michelle, Madeleine, Suzanne and Louise, and of course, to Michael, that they have a lot to be proud of, as indeed does Fine Gael, in the contributions of the Creed family, but in particular of Donal.

There is an interesting political connection with my own family, in fact, because Michelle, Donal's daughter, nominated my father to stand for politics, and the late Claire nominated me at convention as well. The connections between the Creeds and the Coveneys, politically, have been strong and have been personal and that is why I am so pleased to honour an extraordinary individual this morning.

See this speech in context