Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhbhrón ó chroí le clann John Bruton, lena bhean chéile, Finola, le Matthew, le Juliana, le hEmily, le Mary-Elizabeth, lena dheirfiúr. Mary agus lenár gcomhghleacaí Richard freisin. I express my deepest sympathies on behalf of my party in Meath to John's family, his wife, Finola, Matthew, Juliana, Emily, Mary-Elizabeth, Mary and our esteemed colleague Richard.

John was a proud local Dunboyne man who served his community, country and the European Union as Taoiseach, Minister, EU ambassador and a local TD. As a local TD, as Helen has outlined, he was very much in touch with the local community in that big Meath constituency he represented. That constituency, at various times, included parts of Kildare, Westmeath, Cavan and Monaghan in different boundary reviews. His influence went far and wide.

His valuable contribution to the peace process is something that people speak about and we share gratitude for, but what is not spoken about as much is the backdrop to that. The year 1996 was a very violent one. There were disgraceful massive bombings in Canary Wharf and Manchester city centre, and a member of An Garda Síochána was murdered in cold blood. He showed a great deal of skill in dealing with those issues, while obviously completely revulsed by violence, as almost all of us at the time were, and keeping things going with international political leaders, including Bill Clinton in the White House in America and in what were difficult times in particular in the London political scene. He deserves our thanks for that.

He also showed a great deal of political skill in managing a three-party coalition which consisted of diverse political ideologies. All of his skills, huge experience and intellect over the years were later recognised not just by our country but all of the countries of the European Union when John was asked to serve in probably the most important ambassadorial position of the European Union, that is, ambassador of the European Union to the US. How important that was at that time.

In later life, as has been said, John continued to contribute to public life in various roles. His contributions to public and private debates and discussions were always considered, erudite and very worthwhile.

I am not of the same party as John Bruton, but I am very proud to serve as one of his successors for his home area of Dunboyne. He still has a huge legacy there. Recently, Helen and I were at a function in the tennis club and his apologies were given. Of course, he officially opened the tennis club before we were ever involved in politics. He was an international statesman at heart, but he was also a local man and is greatly missed by the local community. He served with distinction and honour and I once again express my sympathies to all of his family, friends and Fine Gael Party in Meath. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

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