Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I extend my deepest sympathies to Charles Haughey's wife Maureen and his children. They have much to be proud of as well as to be sad about today. He was a great parliamentarian who had an extraordinary political career.

Taken in the round, despite the sadness and difficulties of the past few years, he was lucky rather than unlucky. His many acts of charity and assistance will long be remembered by those affected by them. He did not believe there was any such thing as an ordinary person, but that everybody had special individual qualities. He was particularly conscious, because of his background, of the real difficulties and poverty people suffered, whether small farmers, pensioners, struggling artists or people living in the inner city of Dublin.

Three weeks ago I had the honour of sitting with him as he looked back with great satisfaction over the past 50 years. What he was most proud of was the social partnership agreement of October 1987 coupled with the national recovery from which the country has never really looked back. Associated with that was his very constructive relationship with EU President Jacques Delors which let Ireland be included with the Mediterranean countries and benefit from the vitally important Structural Funds over the past 20 years. It was also he who first pulled the threads which started to make up the peace process. In his time he vindicated a vigorous constitutional republicanism. May he rest in peace.