Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Like Senator Alex White I regret that having become a Member of the 23rd Seanad I did not have as much opportunity to interact with Senator Kett due to the nature of his illness. On the irregular occasions when we did meet, I always found him to be friendly, amiable and cordial.

I was very struck by his funeral service where I got a better sense of the man. On that occasion his sense of family and his sense of community were evident to all present. As I had not been a Member of the previous Seanad the funeral ceremony also filled in the gaps in my knowledge of Senator Kett. He was a person of influence who used that influence in a positive way in the community in which he lived. As Senator Quinn has already said, he never sought to draw attention to such influence in a boastful or ostentatious manner and this says something for the character of the person. The sense of occasion on that day, the tributes heard to date and the attendance of Senators today speak volumes for the impression Senator Kett made on this House. Even as a more recent Member of this House and on behalf of my party I wish to be associated with the tributes and to express my condolences to his immediate family, friends and colleagues present.