John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, I join in the tributes to the late Liam Burke. I understand that, apart from the attributes rightly ascribed to him this afternoon, he was called "the silver fox". I assume that it had more to do with his appearance than his political activity, although I am sure that there are various judgments on the matter. In my experience, he was unfailingly courteous. He has been described as a gentleman, and I never heard anyone speak ill of him, another unusual circumstance in politics. He was extremely loyal to his native Cork, and he looked after the interests of its people very effectively over the period of which we have spoken. He survived in an extremely difficult constituency, and it was remarkable that he served only one short term here in the Seanad, being in the Dáil for a long time.

He was very much involved in sport, breeding greyhounds as well as racing them. Perhaps that is another Cork feature, since the sport in question may be more popular in the south than elsewhere. He served his constituency and country extremely well, and I sympathise with his wife, daughters, extended family, colleagues in Fine Gael and constituents in Cork. May he rest in peace.