Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

——he was teased about his republican sympathies, but he expressed them forcibly early on. He wrote a brilliant memoir entitled Cast a Cold Eye in which he explained that the prejudices of his fellow students turned him into a de Valera republican from an early age. I thought that was interesting, although I do not know what school he attended. He had a life-long commitment to Fianna Fáil.

When he had passed away, I was listening to the radio by chance and heard John Bowman's selection of extracts from the many interviews Michael Yeats had given over the years. He gave one such interview to Mike Murphy in which he was both funny and explicit about his politics.

Michael Yeats was first appointed to the Seanad in 1951 by Éamon de Valera, and was subsequently re-appointed by Seán Lemass and Jack Lynch — three former Taoisigh. Michael Yeats was also elected to this House at least once if not twice. He was a strong supporter of the European ideal and in the 1950s represented Ireland on the Council of Europe. He served from 1973 to 1979 as a member of the European Parliament, becoming a vice president of that assembly.

He gave dedicated and patriotic service to Fianna Fáil, Ireland and Europe. As we know, his late father, William Butler Yeats, donated many of his treasures to the National Gallery and there is currently an exhibition in the National Library marking his life. For that, the Yeats family, and Michael Yeats in particular, deserve to be much admired. He spoke about those aspects in another interview I heard played on the radio.

For years, Michael Yeats was a member of the Dalkey Fianna Fáil cumann and attended the various functions run by that body and by other cumainn in Dublin and elsewhere. I remember that when he was invited to a function in the midlands, he was so willing to attend as a committed member of the party. I know his family will be devastated by his passing. Many of us have met his daughter Síle Yeats who works in RTE. I express our deep sympathy to his family along with our thanks for all the years of service he gave to our party and to his country.