Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator MacSharry, I did not have the privilege or pleasure of being a colleague of the late Martin J. O'Toole but I met him many times. As a young person in Fianna Fáil at the time, he was someone to whom I looked up greatly. There were some great men in Fianna Fáil in those days. They had high standards and they were popular. Martin J. was very popular in Kerry. My cousin, Kit Ahern, served in the House with him. I am unsure whether they served in the Seanad and the Dáil at the same time or whether they overlapped but they were good friends. He used to come to Kerry often. What I always noticed about him, whether it was at a party convention or an Ard-Fheis, was that wherever he moved people seemed to be around him. He always had people around him for he was exceptionally popular.

It is great to see all the family in the House today on this lovely occasion, especially the young boys and girls who will remember this in many years to come. I am also pleased to see the great Rory Kiely, my old pal and neighbour, with them and back in the Seanad after the little holiday he had lately.

I have a little epiphany of Martin J. O'Toole. The one I involvement I had with him personally was rather funny. He had a good friend in Listowel, where I am from, a man called Patsy Walsh. I decided to run for the Seanad in the mid-1990s and Patsy Walsh said there was only one man I had to see and that was Martin J. O'Toole because he knew everything and he would put me right.

An appointment was made for me to meet him, and I did so. I was wondering how to get around the country and how much I would have to canvass and so on. I did not have a clue. Half way through the conversation, he stopped me and asked if I had got my nomination yet. I said that would not be a problem because I was after running for the Dáil in north Kerry and helped to elect my party colleagues; my chest was out. He said "If I were you, I would go away and get that nomination first and come back to me after". About a week later, I went up here to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary rooms where, just like every other upstart, I got well hammered and that was the end of that. He gave me very sensible advice.

I have lovely memories of him and great memories of Fianna Fáil in that period.