Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I join in the welcome to Peggy, Michael and Róisín and to send our good wishes, as Senator Fitzgerald said, to David in Singapore. I welcome the extended Maguire family, all of Joe's in-laws. Joe's wife, Peggy, is a native of my area. She is a near neighbour of mine at home and in our area we took great pride in Joe's lifetime of achievements. We took as much pride as the people of Donnybrook and we followed his career with a similar level of interest. Joe was a regular visitor to events in our area and his friendly nature made him known to all of us and the extended area. He was known to people of all traditions and all parties. He holidayed in the area regularly. I am privileged to be here and to be associated with these remarks.

He was a councillor, Senator, Deputy and Lord Mayor of Dublin city. That is some chronicle of achievement on a career level. The pinnacle of his achievements and the success he took most personal pride in was becoming Lord Mayor of the capital city. This was an enormous achievement and he was very proud of it. Along with my wife and family, I had the great privilege of being a guest of Joe and Peggy in the Mansion House. On the day in question, we were slightly embarrassed because our child was fascinated by the cat and spent the entire visit chasing around the room after it. We were slightly embarrassed with the breach of protocol in the Mansion House but the Doyle family did not have a problem. He had a wonderful record of achievement.

He would want to be remembered for, and I would prefer to address, something very different. He should be remembered for his personal qualities and it is from this we should draw inspiration. He was a gentleman by nature, he had a lovely, friendly demeanour and was an accessible person at ease with people. He was one of nature's gentlemen and that is not a cliché or a trite remark. He was an absolute gentleman with a friendly demeanour and was extremely sincere and impeccably honest. One could never doubt his sincerity.

He was a man of sound values and had firm beliefs that he lived out in his life. He was a man of deep conviction and sound values. He had great commitment to his family and his community. He was a spiritual and a religious man. Lourdes was his second home.

As a Cavan person, where his wife is from and where he spent so much time, we are proud of his memory and proud of his achievements. I am very happy on behalf of the community of Cavan to associate myself with the sympathy and to pass our sympathies to Peggy and the family. He was one of nature's gentlemen and we are the poorer for his passing but we will not be poorer if we learn and live according to the life. Ar dheis Dé go a raibh a anam dílis.