Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

John Francis Conlan was a servant of Fine Gael, County Monaghan and Irish democracy. Throughout his career in the Seanad and the Dáil he brought the best to Irish politics. As the Leader said, although he served only four years in this House, from 1965 to 1969, he had a distinguished career in the Dáil until he lost his seat in 1987. He contested the convention for our party in the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan in 1989 but was not selected.

In total, John Conlan had 49 years' service in local government as a member of Ballybay Town Commissioners and Monaghan County Council, an astonishing record and feat. I wish to express, on behalf of the Fine Gael Members in this House, our sympathy to his wife and two children. I attended his removal in Ballybay on Saturday night where I was struck by the cross-party support and respect for him in the guard of honour that passed by his pub and grocery business. That guard of honour was made up of all parties on Monaghan County Council, parties that would be vociferous opponents of ours, which is a great tribute to his ability to reach out to all political parties and shades of opinion. That was a mark of the man.

John Francis came from the Civil War tradition. His uncle was shot dead in the course of the first election in 1922 in Ballybay. Like so many politicians of that generation, his family came from the awfulness and bitterness of the Civil War. He knew what it was like and his family knew what it was like. He was steeped in that politics.

He was also steeped in the politics of James Dillon. He was Dillon's left-hand and right-hand man for 25 years. When Dillon, a former leader of our party, left politics in 1969, John Francis took his seat, not only that, he returned another Fine Gael Member. That was the first time we won two out of three seats in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency. That other Member was the late Senator Billy Fox. He was very proud of that, of his connections with Dillon and with the Ancient Order of Hibernians. As we know, Dillon's first constituency was in Donegal and he ended up in Monaghan. Wherever the AOH was, Dillon was, and that was very much a strong tradition in John Francis's life as well.

On behalf of our party, I thank the family of John Francis Conlan for its contribution to politics. He will be greatly missed in Ballybay, the town he loved so much, and in County Monaghan where he was a great politician with an illustrious career and record of service to the people.

It is difficult for Border representatives in the Seanad and Dáil, especially those who live close to the Border who have had to hold the line for Irish democracy through difficult years. In a sense, that Border region has been underdeveloped because of the problems of Northern Ireland and the immediacy of the Border. John Francis Conlan always worked hard to ensure the people of his native County Monaghan and the wider Cavan-Monaghan constituency would get the very best from any new deal on Northern Ireland. We hope and pray that deal will be safeguarded at some time in the future for the benefit of all people, not just in Northern Ireland but especially people along the Border. That would be a great tribute to his memory.