Eoghan Harris (Independent)

In these hard times I ask that we take a moment to mark the passing of Christy Nolan. It is in no sentimental way that I say he is a metaphor for what we will have to do. He spent 43 years strapped in a wheelchair and with a device strapped to his forehead he tapped out three books, one of them a classic, namely, Under the Eye of the Clock. Yesterday, his sister, Yvonne, whom I know, wrote a very powerful tribute to him. I worked with her for a long time and she has the same tenacity and courage as her brother. Christy Nolan was what we would all hope to be in coming times. He was dealt a very hard hand, like the hand this country has been dealt, through no fault of his own. He dealt with that hand with courage and tenacity and he did not rail or scream or behave badly. He took it and he got through it. At 43 years of age he died, with three books under his belt, with the help of his sister, Yvonne, and his parents. He was not institutionalised; the family looked after him.

We have been dealt a hard hand in this country and we can get some courage from a man such as Christy Nolan because he is a true hero. Yesterday, his sister, Yvonne, said that when she thinks of all the sweaty heroes in war films and of the way he, with his broken body, strapped to a wheelchair for 43 years, got through three books, he was the toughest, fiercest and bravest man she ever knew. All Senators in the House will wish to associate with me in taking a moment to pay tribute to a man who showed Hemingway's supreme virtue of grace under pressure.