Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

We have a third former Member to mourn. Some in the Visitors Gallery may consider we are spending a long time on this, but it is correct that we make expressions of sympathy in respect of former Members who have passed on. I did not know of former Senator Louis Walsh, therefore I had to rely on what I could find. He served two terms in the Seanad. He was a solicitor and was elected to the House in 1954 on the cultural and educational panel. He was defeated in 1957 but was nominated in that same electoral period by the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, until he vacated his seat in November 1961 when he was appointed county registrar in County Donegal by the Government headed by Mr. de Valera. On his appointment to the Seanad by Éamon de Valera he was also appointed Leader of the House.

He leaves a family of two sons and two daughters and we pass our sympathy to them, remembering that for them he was the most important person in their life. I meant to research some of the Seanad debates in which he was involved but faltered through lack of time. However, I found four or five contributions by him, concerned with legal and justice Bills and educational matters, as would have befitted his profession and the panel on which he became a Member.

We express our sympathy on the passing of the late Senator to his two sons and two daughters, who are all serving in professions in this country. May he rest in peace.