Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dare anyone say a bad word about John Bruton because the late Paddy Hogan would defend him to the end. Councillor Mary Sylver was also a great supporter of John Bruton, as was Councillor Brigid Hogan, whom I knew at that time. They were people who told me about John Bruton. I got to know him, learn about him and like him and to believe in what he did.

He was a man who held his ground. He believed firmly and with conviction. He did not budge and was not to be intimidated or moved. He stood his ground and he was a very powerful advocate for the changes he believed in. He contacted me many times about issues of concern during the period I have been the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He was a really important influence on our national psyche. He made us think much more about the future of our island and about the place unionism must have in future successful relationships, North and South. The future shared island will include unionism. It is the strong views of John Bruton, somewhat vilified by some, but always respected by most people, that have taught us the way to go in this regard.

I thought about what I or anyone here could say about John Bruton that would honour the man and how he will be respected into the future. I came across a speech by President Theodore Roosevelt called "The Man in the Arena". I will read a few words from it. In that famous speech, President Theodore Roosevelt said:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done ... better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do [those] deeds; who knows ... great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

John Bruton was a political giant, with a powerful intellect and a searching and inquiring mind. He was never afraid to speak out and highlight uncomfortable truths. He will be sadly missed. I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Finola, his children, Emily, Matthew, Juliana and Mary-Elizabeth, his sister, Mary, and, of course, his always faithful brother who was by his side, at all times in this House and outside it, our dear respected colleague, Deputy Richard Bruton.

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