Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

We move now to expressions of sympathy for our late distinguished colleague and friend, Noel Treacy. Before I call on the Tánaiste I welcome to the House Mrs. Mary Treacy, who is accompanied today by her daughters, Emer and Joan, and her son, Rory. I welcome Juliet Treacy; Paul, Ciarán, and Daithí Hogan; Maria Treacy, Nóirín and John Byrne; and Jim, Claire, Stevie, Jarlath and Gabriel Cloonan. I thank them all for joining us today.

In 38 years in public life I have met very many fine people. All of us have, but I can say with absolute certainty I have never met finer than the late Noel Treacy. He was an extraordinary and wonderful man, one whose commitment to his family, to Galway, and to his country was passionate and without parallel. That commitment was reciprocated. If I needed an example of it, I remember travelling to the funeral in Gurteen on that cold, wet miserable February evening, and the crowds as we passed Ballinasloe and headed towards Gurteen. There were crowds at the crossroads, many of them wearing yellow vests. It was at the time of the yellow vest protests in France and I thought, "My God, the gilets jauneshave arrived in east Galway." I said to one man at the crossroads, "You are out in great numbers." His response was, "Well if we didn't come out for Noel, we wouldn't come out for anyone." It was wonderful to see how people respected him in the constituency that he represented.

He was a wise man. I remember him once saying to me that those of us who were fortunate enough to be elected to this House were elected because we made a contract with the people, and if we did not break the contract, they never would. Noel never broke it, and the people of Galway never broke it, as far as he was concerned.

We talk about people being a people person. Noel Treacy was the epitome of a people person. He knew people, he cared about them, and he wanted to engage with them. I remember the halcyon days when we would have lunch or dinner in the Members' dining room here in Leinster House. I was one that was probably there for both lunch and dinner. The thing about having Noel at the table was the number of times he would have to get up, because he would get up to greet somebody coming in or somebody going out. That huge hand would go out and there would be a vigorous shake. When he would come back to the table he would tell us who the person was, what their connections were, who they played for, and maybe what political party they supported as well. He had a phenomenal knowledge of people and recollection for people's names and faces. In a way, it struck me that he was a walking Wikipedia before Wikipedia ever came into existence.

He was a friend to all of us here. He delivered wonderful service to his family, to his constituency, and to his country. Every one of us who had the privilege to know him are better from having known him. I ndáiríre, ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

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