Joe O'Toole (Independent)

The Independent group in the Seanad would like to associate itself with the comments made by the two previous speakers. Ruairí Brugha was a quiet man. He travelled to and from the Oireachtas Library most days of the week until recently. Very few people would have recognised him, except those of us who knew him for many years. He always moved quietly and never involved himself in conversation until someone spoke to him. He was a bridge builder in many ways.

He was probably the most direct link between the physical force revolution and democracy in Ireland, a role he wished to play, and was completely committed to, throughout his life. It is difficult to give even a taste of the extraordinarily varied and complex life he lived.

I first got to know him through the Kingston Clothing Company, which was founded by his maternal grandfather and located in O'Connell Street. He was managing director of this company and his closest friend and eventual brother-in-law, Seán O'Briain from Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, was company secretary. When I first came to Dublin in the 1960s, I was advised to go to Seán O'Briain and Ruairí Brugha in the Kingston Clothing Company in Connell Street if I wanted to buy a suit, which I did. This company was, in many ways, notorious.

Ruairí Brugha was friends with people like Peadar O'Donnell and Brendan Behan. They would meet regularly on a Saturday morning for tea and coffee in the Gresham Hotel. Peadar O'Donnell and Ruairí Brugha argued with and were friends with a wide circle of people. Brendan Behan was Ruairí Brugha's best and worst customer. He would tell the story of how Behan would continually buy overcoats from him. He would buy an overcoat, lose it, buy another and give it away. Eventually, he would have to pay for his coats but he only wished to pay for one despite the fact that he had bought three. He always ended up calling Ruairí Brugha a capitalist, which was the end of every argument. He had a great relationship with Behan and was very saddened by his early passing.

Few people would believe that Ruairí Brugha was so highly principled that he was jailed for who he was, rather than for anything he did. I do not think he ever fired a shot in anger. Having been jailed for no good reason by his country, his church then excommunicated him. He suffered for his principles, without anyone pointing out what he had done wrong. He did not abandon his principles while he was in the Curragh. When he was offered early release, despite the fact that he had done nothing wrong, he refused to offer any kind of excuse for his actions. He served his time until, as the Leader noted, he was eventually released due to poor health.

He was a complete romantic. The Leader might like to know that when he was in the Curragh, he commissioned an engagement ring to be made from a silver sixpence when he proposed to Máire McSwiney who, of course, accepted. She became the person with the greatest influence on him throughout his life. She was a very positive influence on him because it opened up the width and depth of Europe for him. He was a Francophile who regularly visited France.

He was, above all, a bridge builder who would always bring people closer together. Ba Ghaeilgeoir den scoth é, agus chaitheadh sé gach samhradh i mBaile an Fheirtéaraigh — ar An Ghráig, i ndáiríre —áit a raibh tigh acu, agus tá sé acu fós, mar is cuimhin liom. Gan amhras, bhí an-ghaol aige leis an áit sin trí Sheán Ó Briain chomh maith. An rud ba thábhachtaí i rith na mblianta sin ná gur bhuail sé le Máire ar An Ghráig chomh maith, nuair a bhí sé ag dul ag rothaíocht timpeall na tíre. He cycled completely around Ireland over a number of summers.

He was a man who did things. More than anything else he would wish to be remembered, as the Leader stated, as somebody tied to reconciliation as a bridge builder. In the 1940s, he argued against and fought the perceived wisdom about the physical force tradition when it was difficult for him because of his roots and background in the republican movement. He contended the way forward was democracy and that the armed struggle should be put behind the Irish people. He did this constantly.

In 1966, on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, he addressed a large rally in Trafalgar Square. This resonates with a discussion here last week. Flags were waving and the physical force tradition was undoubtedly uppermost in people's minds. Ruairí Brugha stood up in front of the crowd and argued for a democratic way forward, for the physical force tradition to be abandoned, for a move into political life and to accept that this was the way forward. This was a principled but difficult position, but he was a courageous person.

Friends on the Government side may wish to know that some time in the late 1940s he decided to enter political life to advocate his views. He went to the great founder of Fianna Fáil, Éamon de Valera, for advice on entering political life. Mr. de Valera stated that he had been waiting for Brugha and had been wondering when he was coming to join the party. Brugha stated that he had come for advice but could not join Fianna Fáil when some of his former colleagues were imprisoned. He joined Clann na Poblachta, standing for the party several times before returning to the bosom of Fianna Fáil. He was a Senator, a Deputy and an MEP. Even within Fianna Fáil he was still a bridge builder. At a personal cost to his own political advancement he refused to take sides on any of the various and many schisms within that party. He always attempted to hold both sides together.

His time as a Deputy, Senator and MEP has been well documented so I will not deal with them. We have been discussing social capital and Oireachtas committees have been examining volunteerism. Ruairí Brugha took action on issues. At one stage the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes money was diverted from hospitals in another direction. The Mater Hospital had extraordinary difficulty seeking money. Brugha founded the famous Mater Hospital pools, which ran for many years. These were bought out some years back but he was still involved in them until relatively recently.

For 50 years he was a member of Trees for Ireland. I dealt with him there as a teacher, educationalist and member of the INTO. He carried out significant work in the area and cultivated a love of trees in schools, bringing it into the educational system. He was the first chairperson of Dublin Tourism. More than anything else he was a bridge builder. He was a devout Catholic and a conservative man but he led a delegation to the Archbishop of Armagh looking for the ban on Catholics attending Trinity College to be lifted. It was lifted some time later. He was the type of man who took action.

He expended a life-long energy in developing good relations among people who were divided, be they from the North and South of this island; Catholic and Protestant from the whole island or in Northern Ireland; or Unionist, Nationalist, republican or loyalist. He always insisted on spending time in Northern Ireland on a regular basis on the process of reconciliation. He did much work on this, which is appreciated. We on the Independent benches wish to be associated with the words spoken previously and we offer condolences to his wife Máire, his family and extended family, who loved him dearly.