Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I did not work with Peter in this House for as long as previous speakers but I had the pleasure of knowing him when I was a county councillor and he was a Seanad candidate. For all that he was a Cork man, which he could not help, he was extremely popular in County Kerry. Along with Joe Walsh, he was a great friend of my late cousin and former Deputy and Senator, Kit Ahern.

Our offices shared a corridor and shortly after I arrived he entered my office to tell me he was still learning even though he was in his third term in the Seanad. He offered to cut my learning short by guiding me through the system. He acted as my mentor for my first couple of months in the House and, after three or four months, he looked me in the eye and asked me how I was getting on. When I told him I was getting on fairly well, he said that, as my mentor, he would tell me if he saw me going wrong or off the rails. That was a wake up call at a time when I was perhaps celebrating too much my late arrival to the Seanad.

Peter was also a desperate rogue. I met several members of his family and I do not think he left it after him. He used to visit the smoking area of the Members' bar. He was a lifelong pioneer but some of us drank stuff that did not contain caffeine. He did not need alcohol because there was a twinkle in his eye when he spun his yarns about the old times. He was a great man and I miss him. It must be a proud day for his family to hear the wonderful tributes from Senators who knew him much better than I. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.