Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a great privilege to follow my colleagues in paying tribute to the late former Senator Eamon de Buitléar and his wonderful career in promoting the country, its teanga, nádúr agus ceol. He grew up in the Phoenix Park where his father was aide-de-camp to Douglas Hyde. It must have been a source of great happiness for him that the grounds of the Áras were shared with the African plains section of the Zoo following the transfer of some land from Áras an Uachtaráin to the Zoo. They were the grounds where Eamon had played as a boy. He won Jacob’s awards. Senator David Norris mentioned that he had met Seán Ó Riada which led to the formation of Ceoltóirí Chualann. The list of musicians who honoured him include Mícheál O Súilleabhán, Seán Keane, Seán Ó Sé , Peadar Ó Riada and Paddy Glackin. Peadar brought up the choir from Cúil Aodha. They were all there to honour him for his contribution to music. Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú has joined in that tribute.

I thank Eamon's wife, Lailli, for sharing him, as Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú said, with the country in the amazing contributions he made in so many ways. At his funeral, Fr. Dermod McCarthy said Eamon had used his position as a Senator to awaken people to the continuing need to respect nature in all its facets. We did learn from him to appreciate nature very much. It is appropriate that he gave all of his artefacts, film archives, music and books to NUIG.

The new campus, along the banks of the Corrib, is an appropriate place to honour the late Eamon de Buitléar because he loved Connemara and the Corrib flows down from Connemara on its way to Galway city, which is probably the capital of music in this country because great music comes out of every doorway there. We all look forward to visiting the archive when the public has access.

On a personal note, they were filming one day on the Broadmeadow, which is between Malahide and Swords, and my brother and his two small boys, as they were then, were passing by. On the patience that Senator Ó Murchú has referred to, they involved the two boys in making the movie and it became one of the cherished items in their own archive. They got to know Eamon and Gerrit as a result. It was an example of the immense patience that one must have in filming nature.

It was also an example of the wonderful contrast to television which has so many in-studio programmes and does not get out nearly enough. I suppose, in studying economics, I was always jealous of those such as Eamon because we would be heading off to the library and they would be getting field trips to the Wicklow Mountains or the Burren. Maybe that is what made Eamon de Buitléar such a happy person who communicated so much of that happiness and joy. He was doing exactly what he wanted.

The country is indebted to him on so many fronts - furthering our music, promoting the language, preserving the best of our heritage and making us aware of the beauties of nature which, perhaps, we cherish a little more than when Eamon started to make the programmes. Gabhaim buíochas le Eamon agus lena chlann.