John Carty (Fianna Fail)

I rise to join with colleagues in paying tribute to the late Senator Peter Callanan. I knew him before I became a Member of the Dáil or of this House and I always had long conversations with him. His knowledge of agriculture, especially tillage, was phenomenal. He excelled in it and contributed widely to that debate. When I became a Member of the Dáil I was on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, on which he served. I was the Whip and he was a pleasure to work with. His contributions were many and varied. He took on all the vested interests which appeared before the committee and if they thought they were going to have an easy time at the expense of the farming community by the time they were leaving they knew a lot different.

Any time he passed through my native village of Knock he always called. He was never in a hurry. My wife Kathleen also enjoyed his company. He regaled us with stories of what went on down in Cork and what was going on. Kathleen and I knew city hall better than he knew it himself. He told us of the different people he had to go to meet and how he had to spend a day in it. It is a massive building. One could see he was working for the people and that they respected him for it. One could see why he got such a vote in the local elections.

I knew about his dancing prowess because a man from Union Hall - we have a lot of friends in west Cork - and I were talking about Peter one night. He asked if I knew Peter was a great dancer. I looked at him because Peter would not strike one as a great dancer as he had a fair amount of weight on him. He said he would turn on a sixpence. The next time I met him I accosted him with that. He said, "Who the hell told you that?". That was Peter. He was great company, a great Member of this House and a good companion. To his wife Sheila, his family, Gerard, Liam, David, Denis, Deirdre and Fionnuala, and his brother and sisters, I offer my sincere sympathy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.