Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am privileged and humbled to join colleagues in offering my condolences to Finola, to the Bruton family and especially to our dear friend and colleague, Richard, on the passing of his brother, John.

If I may, I will address a word to our colleague, Deputy Richard Bruton. I hope this afternoon that the affection, respect and deep understanding of your brother that has been expressed by many Members of this House, and in particular the affection expressed by Members of this House who worked with him closely but may not always have been from the same political tradition, are of some comfort to you as you deal with grief. I hope in time that the words offered here are of help to you in understanding the esteem and affection your brother enjoyed and received from so many, as of course you do too.

In thinking about what words I could offer at this moment, I thought there was no better place to begin than with the words of John in the lovely book he published after retirement, Faith in Politics. In a reflection he offered for Easter time, which reflected the faith he had that was not only based on a political outlook but also on his deep religious faith, he said:

Our faith tells us that there is a God, that we are not alone in the universe. We should not be arrogant. We should respect His creation. We should leave the earth in a better condition than we found it. There is something out there much bigger than us; we must keep our troubles in proportion.... Our faith tells us that there is a life after our death, we do not simply pass away into nothingness. We have to give an account of ourselves.

Those are the words of John. I thought about what his account of himself might be. Many colleagues have spoken about his qualities as a statesman. Many colleagues who worked closely with him have spoken about their great esteem for him and his great achievements as a holder of the highest office. I am not qualified to do so. I did not have that privilege, but I did have the privilege of getting to know him after those moments. I will briefly offer three memories that bring to light the qualities that so many have mentioned.

I remember vividly a local election campaign in 2003 when I was elated and somewhat scared to be joined on the canvass with John Bruton in Villa Park, a lovely estate off the Navan Road. He arrived with me on a bright afternoon. The clouds, thank God, were few, the sky was blue and he turned up in a lovely raincoat with a wide-brimmed hat. I saw what I initially thought was a masterclass in how to engage with people, but I quickly realised after an hour with him that it was just a reflection of the innate decency of the man and the deep respect he had for anyone he met on the doorstep. I remember a particular encounter in which someone I hoped would be a constituent of mine at some point in the future complained to John about the poor water pressure. It was like it was the first time John had ever heard about an issue in a constituency, such was the interest he showed in it and the command he had of what could be done to fix the issue as he extolled me to do it.

Second, I remember the referendum on the fiscal compact, as was touched on for a moment by the Minister, Deputy Harris. It was an existential moment in our country's fortunes.

I remember he and I speaking at a meeting on that topic. Afterwards, we were reflecting on where things stood. I was a young backbench TD reeling from the huge challenges we were facing, with an email inbox that I was at times afraid to look at and phone calls which I sometimes struggled to return. I remember speaking to John about this and he gave me this wonderful evocation, by the side of a bar somewhere in my constituency, about the value of solidarity, the value of empathy and the value of national effort. I remember after those words the phone calls were a little less daunting, the emails were a little less scary and the challenges just felt a little smaller. That was the spirit of the man.

That leads on to my final thought about his spirit and his very deep appreciation of culture. Others have spoken with great authority about his beliefs. I simply add that for all of his focus on safety in public finances and for all of the descriptions of him as an economic conservative, he never once saw an economy as the master of society. He saw an economy and how we look after ourselves as the way to create a better society and help the vulnerable. Economics was a tool to achieve greater aims. He had the same view about Europe. He saw the European Union as our best prospect, the greatest possible guarantor of peace and stability and of bringing the values he cared so deeply about to further life within our own country and across the Continent.

If I started with John's words, I think I will end with them also. During a public lecture that he gave in that moment of great crisis in our country, he said:

The values we need to survive the recession are ones that bring us out of ourselves, that help us to transcend our own problems, by interesting ourselves in other people, and by giving service to something greater than ourselves.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, can we imagine a life better lived in delivering on those values?

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