Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I offer my deepest sympathy, that of my family, and that of the Fine Gael family in Galway East to John's wife, Finola, his children, and his siblings Richard and Mary on the passing of an extraordinary man. Many of us in this room, about this time 20 years ago, were involved in our first-ever election campaign seeking to be elected in the local elections of 2004. I imagine many of us had a general idea as to why we were getting involved in politics. For me, they were numerous, but in seeking to distil down my reasons for becoming involved in politics, I searched for many weeks to find a definition of politics which somehow resonated with me. I found it in the writings of an American journalist called Bill Moyers, who once said that a good idea is like an arrow but an arrow needs a bow “and politics is the bow of idealism”. To this day, that is still the central tenet of why I believe I have become involved in politics and it was the very essence of who John Bruton was. He was an idealist to his core and he believed that in politics you have the power to transform your community and your country. He lived that message and that essence of what politics is all about in every day of his contribution to this country.

I recall in the general election of 2011 that John very kindly and generously spent a whole day canvassing with me in the town of Ballinasloe on a Saturday, in a very busy market town and market that still takes place in the centre of the town every Saturday. As Deputy English mentioned earlier, he went around to every single stall and stallholder. Everybody he approached knew who he was but he still had the self-deprecation and humility to introduce himself, to say hello and to say that his name was John Bruton. It meant a great deal to me personally, indeed to those involved in my campaign and to my family, that somebody of John’s stature would take time to come down to Ballinasloe, to stand at my shoulder, and to say that he endorsed this young man as he embarked upon his political career.

John, I thank you for being such an inspiration. I recall one of my last duties in my Ministry in the Department of Foreign Affairs speaking at a conference in Dhaka on the transformative power of education. I was handed an excellent speech by a friend and a colleague in the Department at the time to give to an assembled gathering of international leaders about the transformative power of education. I said that I would rather dispense with that and tell a story. This was the story of Ireland and of how Ireland has been transformed from the Ireland of my father to the Ireland of my son. We should always reflect on the contribution which John Bruton, and indeed many others like him, have made to an absolute transformation when one thinks of the poverty, the strife, the insularity and the intolerance of the Ireland of my father and the country which my son and his peers occupy right now. It is an extraordinary transformation and we have to be so grateful to people like John Bruton who had the vision, the ambition and the deep public service commitment to achieve exactly that.

To us, John Bruton was a towering statesman, somebody of whom we can all be very proud, but it is also important to remember this other extraordinary gentlemen beside me here, and that he was a much and deeply loved brother. I say to Richard and to all those people who are close to John that they can be immensely proud of what he has achieved. I hope that all of the extraordinary memories they have of him as a brother, friend and colleague will carry them through the difficult times in the weeks ahead when they feel that hole in their heart and that vacuum in their lives.

Another form of words which I sometimes revert to when I am trying to extend my sympathies to people who have lost dear friends and family members are the words of Kahlil Gibran and I will finish with these, “When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” My deepest sympathy to John’s family. May he rest in peace.

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