Brendan Ryan (Labour)

It was Deputy Jim O'Keeffe who suffered at the hands of a very capable and occasionally sharp tongue.

Seán O'Leary was an extraordinarily warm man with a strong sense of social justice. Injustice in politics and society annoyed him. The letter to which Senator Ross referred was a manifestation of that genuine sense of unhappiness with injustice. He correctly identified that injustice begins with injustice to those who are seen to be least deserving of sympathy and moves from there to others. That is what concerned him.

I was somewhat sorry when he was made a judge because much of the man therefore had to be concealed within the proprieties of his position. By all accounts, as the Leader has said, he was a very capable man in his judicial role. I believe he was also a very compassionate man in this role. The other wonderful side of his personality was taken from us from the public point of view, especially the extraordinary political analysis laced with considerable and wicked humour.

Above all, his early death took away from us, in a way that seems so unfair and cruel, a real and genuine human being who contributed to life, politics and his family. He was a man of humour and compassion, a consummate lawyer and, in my case, a friend. He is a significant loss to Irish life, an even more significant loss to Fine Gael and, clearly, a huge loss to his family. We, in the Labour Party, would very much like to be associated with the words of sympathy to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam fíor-uasal dílis.