Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I too wish to be associated with these warm tributes. It is lovely to be reminded of the many significant events in the life of Pope John Paul II as recounted by Members. I was struck by the manner in which he approached people of other faiths. He had a way of dealing affectionately with those with whom he disagreed, often very fundamentally. However, no one left with any feeling of bitterness. If Senator Norris and Pope John Paul II had met, they would have got on fine and certainly would not have had any rows. They might have found they had more in common than having any differences. As all Members know well, Senator Norris is a great actor.

The Holy Father was a remarkable and wonderful man, a great leader, a colossus of the 20th century. Henry Kissinger described him as the greatest man of the last century. He was also recognised as one of the great Popes. His teachings and communications skills were absolutely superb and he rightly made a great impact. His great faith underlined his very being.

To many Karol Wojtyla was always a theatrical type. As a young man he wrote plays and worked in theatre. He never lost his touch and when he became Pope it was commented that he knew how to make them gasp in the stalls. Senator Norris would very much admire this. When arriving in a country for the first time, the Pope made a habit of kissing the ground. He kissed and held up babies better than any politician.

In 1979 he told his fellow countrymen not to be afraid, to be strong with love which is stronger than death. Ten years later communism collapsed, its rotten foundations exposed largely due to this great man. Stalin mockingly asked once of a previous Pope how many divisions he had. Pope John Paul II was the man who contributed to bringing down the Iron Curtain without any bloodshed. He helped and facilitated the emergence of the democratic, united Europe we have now.

His funeral was probably the largest ever seen, with 4 million passing his body while it lay in state and attending Friday's funeral mass. Like Senator Cummins, I remember being in Limerick when the Pope visited. At the time I was not involved in politics. Like so many people, we travelled early in the morning to be at the Limerick racecourse for that remarkable occasion.

It is time for a final and definitive answer to the Pope's plea in Drogheda to those engaged in paramilitarism to lay down their arms. The Pope was one the greats who changed the political map of Europe. I hope all Members will subscribe to the chant "santo subito".