Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

The first vote I cast after my election in 1996 was on keeping Séamus Brennan in the House when the Government of the day wanted to kick him out because of his vociferousness on the Luas. My first job in the Dáil was to vote to keep Séamus from being suspended, which was an event in itself.

Week after week during my first year, we asked whether we would win a vote on Private Members' Business but we never had the numbers. Séamus Brennan finally won a vote on the Luas because of an error.

Once while he was Chief Whip, I requested a pair but he told me to ask again after the 8.30 p.m. division. When I pursued him later, he told me to ask again in the morning. I noted that I had to be in Donegal for 10 a.m., so he told me to contact him early in the morning. As I passed through Monaghan at 8 o'clock that morning, I telephoned him with the intention of giving him at least two hours' notice. He told me that I could leave for Donegal after the Order of Business but I told him I was in Monaghan and that I was not about to turn back. I wrote him a "thank you" limerick for letting me off, even though he did not do so, and he returned my letter with a limerick hand-written in the margins thanking me for thanking him. I will keep that forever. He had a great sense of humour and was a quiet spoken and gentle man. He will be a loss to everyone.