Brendan Ryan (Labour)

It dawned on me this morning that, increasingly, I stand up here on these sad occasions to talk about people whose careers overlapped with my own, which to some extent brings intimations of mortality. It is always a privilege to pay tribute to people who have put so much of their lives into genuine altruistic public service. The account of John Francis Conlan's life given by Senator Brian Hayes reveals a man of extraordinary commitment.

It is difficult for us living in prosperous modern Ireland to realise the pain and vision of democracy people like the late former Senator Conlan endured and their willingness to put democracy before all else and share Government, participate in it and build up institutions we take for granted. Those institutions were not just built up by the people who became Taoisigh and Presidents, they were built up by the foot soldiers of democratic politics at local and national level, of whom John Francis Conlan was clearly an exemplary member.

On behalf of the Labour Party, I extend our sympathy to the family of the late John Francis Conlan and also to the Fine Gael Party which has obviously lost a stalwart member.