Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I also wish to be associated with the warm and genuine tribute to Joe. He was a great Donnybrook man and quintessential Dubliner with whom I served in this House from 1997 to 2002. He always sat in the outer chair in the front row of the Fine Gael benches and the then Senator Maurice Manning referred to him reverentially as the chancellor. Consequently, that seat became known as the chancellor's seat as it was where Joe always sat. As has been stated earlier, Joe had no enemies and I believe this is the reason he became Lord Mayor of Dublin, an office which he really prized and which probably was the pinnacle of his career. All Members have lovely stories about Joe about which they could go on but I will not do that. The point that summed him up is that he truly was a lovely man. To Peggy and all of his family, Members extend their sympathy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.