Shane Ross (Independent)

I was privileged to serve in this House with Pat Joe Reynolds for many years. He was not only popular, but principled. He was almost rigid in his adherence to those things in which he believed. He was a traditionalist, although some would say a conservative. However, he was humane and sincere and not prone to bending his opinions with the fashionable winds of the time. This was most potently illustrated by his stance on violence. He came from the Border counties where in the 1980s and earlier, some people came under pressure to be softer on terrorism than others but Pat Joe Reynolds never yielded to that and unambiguously supported the forces of those who opposed terrorism without any ambiguity. That is not intended as a veiled criticism of anyone. It was not easy at the time to do that but he did it with immense courage. We should acknowledge his role and that of others in doing so at the time.

He was an excellent Cathaoirleach. His successors could take a leaf from his book in that his way of dealing with those who grew too hot under the collar about certain issues was to laugh at them, and he would do so from the Chair. It was very difficult when one felt strongly and emotionally about an issue to hear the Cathaoirleach laugh at one and move on to the next business. One could not engage him in the row and, as everyone knows, one of the great skills of parliamentary debate is to engage the Cathaoirleach in the row. If one cannot do that and he or she laughs at one it is very difficult to be taken seriously. He always defused those difficulties with great charm and style. We should be proud that he was a predecessor of the present Cathaoirleach and a fine Cathaoirleach in his time.

I have one other anecdote which I like because I held Pat Joe in great affection, as did others who knew him. One day he said to me "I hear you are a great one for night-clubs." This was a long time ago.