Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I say a heartfelt thanks again to all the people who worked so diligently from all political parties and none. There were people we can call the headline players whose names were instantly recognisable. I like to be parochial about things. I will remember fondly a man from Kerry who did Trojan work quietly and in the background, but in a thoughtful and hardworking and diligent way. He is a retired Deputy of the House, Martin Ferris from County Kerry. He certainly put his shoulder to the wheel for a long period of time. It was a long hard slog for him, for people such as Bertie Ahern, for all the people from Fine Gael and all the political parties. Many of them have gone to their eternal reward, but they can do so knowing their political work has ensured people who would still have been dying today are not. Children have grown up to be fine adults who never saw the Troubles and the reason they are alive today is the political work of those people in the past. No one can ever underestimate the importance of that. No one can quantify it. The children and grandchildren are here. I do not care if it was the people of Fine Gael, the people of Fianna Fáíl, John Hume or the people of Sinn Féin. All the different groups came together and worked hard for a long time. They gave selflessly of their time and were unified. It was a troublesome journey and, to this day, it can be shaky and so on. However, I always say when there are troubles in life, if they could do what they did in the North, surely we can get things right now. Politically, we should be able to use the workings of politics to put conflict aside. There should be no place for violence, death or maiming people. We should be able to sort out our problems politically and learn from the good people who served us well in the past.

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