Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like others I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak during this debate paying tribute to the late Seamus Heaney following his sad and most untimely death. I also welcome Marie to the House and extend sincere condolences to her, as well as to Mick, Christopher and Catherine Ann, as well as to her grandchildren and family. I also welcome Professors Kennelly and Brown and other distinguished visitors from Trinity College and from the Yeats Society, as well as an American visitor, Mark Tuohy, who also are present in the Gallery for this debate.

I personally always have loved Seamus's poetry. I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting him in Trinity as I was there at the same time as Seamus and Marie's son, Mick. Like everyone else has noted, he was friendly and approachable, with a touch of mischief it must be said, as well as being humorous, which perhaps was very different to the somewhat austere stereotype of the Nobel Laureate that one might expect.

With all due respect to William Butler Yeats, I always thought he appears to have been a somewhat more austere figure.

It was with deep sadness and regret I learned of Seamus Heaney's death. It touched so many people - all over Ireland, North and South, and outside this island. Others have referred to him as "the people's poet". From random conversations with taxi drivers, colleagues, friends and acquaintances following his death, it was clear just how deeply people everywhere were touched. Senator O'Keeffe described the "Heaneybopper" phenomenon, which was widespread. The extent to which people everywhere were touched by Seamus's death was extraordinary. Perhaps it is because his poetry, while apparently homely, much of it dealing with domestic issues, his childhood and upbringing, always carried universal themes. Others have spoken of the importance of Heaney's poetry as a human response to the Northern Ireland Troubles. Blake Morrison described Seamus as a spokesman although his mantle of public spokesman was somewhat contested. Yet there was that homely touch, that dwelling on universal themes.

Others have read very eloquently from Seamus's poetry, with Senator Moran reading from my favourite poem. It is that perhaps because I came across it first when I was much younger. It is, of course, Mid-term Break, which was about the death of his younger brother. I always find it extremely moving and did so when Senator Moran read it just now. It is an incredibly poignant account of loss told through the eyes of a child. It is one of those poems that are timeless.

I acknowledge the long association that Seamus had with Trinity College, Dublin. As my fellow Dublin University colleague, Senator Barrett, mentioned, Seamus had a long-standing relationship with Trinity where, since 1998, he had been an honorary fellow. The provost paid a very warm tribute to him recently, pointing out the deep respect and admiration the Trinity College community and the wider community had for him. Seamus gave of his time and intellect freely within Trinity. I remember a packed-out Edmund Burke theatre some years ago where he was giving a reading in support of Amnesty International but he also gave readings in Trinity on other occasions and as part of charity fundraisers. Senator Barrett mentioned the Seamus Heaney Professorship in Irish Writing, recently named in his honour, which I believe will form a legacy - one of many - to the significant and immense contribution he has made to Irish writing and literary studies.

Every speaker has mentioned Seamus's common touch and the immense and widespread response and outpouring following his death. However, it is noteworthy too that he was a major intellectual figure. His translations, in particular that of Beowulf, were rigorous academic studies. He gained immense respect at that level, as well as at the popular one within the Irish community. Newsweekgave a lovely description of his translation of Beowulf,saying it had "muscular language, rich with the tones and smell of earth". That was appropriate to the particular text; it revitalised it as well as being true to its spirit.

There is no doubt that his loss is an immense loss to Irish society as well as to the international community. He lectured at Oxford, Harvard and elsewhere. It is an immense loss. Most of all, we pay our sincere condolences to the Heaney family, to Marie and to the family.