Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá an-áthas orm go bhfuil an seans agam labhairt anseo inniu. Nuair a chuaigh John Carty ar shlí na fírinne, d'fhág sé folúntas ina dhiaidh nach líonfar riamh. Ba dhuine macánta, dílis agus díograiseach é a sheas an fód i gcónaí ar son a phrionsabal agus ar son a mhuintir freisin.

I am very pleased that John's family are with us today, because a public representative cannot give service in public life without his family. You, his family, have shared the ups and the downs of political life with him. Without that support John could not have achieved what he did achieve. For that reason it is great to have the opportunity to express some words of appreciation to a fine person and public representative.

It is often said that we wait too long in Ireland to praise someone or that we wait until they are gone to heaven. That is not true in the case of John Carty, because I heard words of praise for John over and over again in small groups and big groups. One reason for that is because I do not ever remember him uttering a word about other people that was not nice. That is something very important indeed.

As chairman of the Irish Family History Foundation I had a close association with John. Many times we discussed issues of genealogy and tracing roots. John knew that communities are not built on shifting sands and that it was important for people to be conscious of the legacies we have received from previous generations. He was very passionate and committed in this regard. He had a great investigative mind for finding those little gems of information which often get lost if people do not go to the trouble of finding them.

Everyone in public life, whether at council level or national level, knows that there is a contrived and rather unfair caricature, negative, in many ways, put out about people working in public life. I regard John as an antidote to that type of picture and it is evident if we reflect on the service which he gave and the sacrifices he made as well as some of the disappointments he endured in public life.

Certainly, he was a faithful son and a custodian of rural Ireland. He was mindful of the tradition and the sustenance which the land gives us. That is very important. This is not often spoken about, but it used to be spoken about in rural Ireland in the past when people sat around the fireside before the intrusion of television. In those times people were well aware of where they stood as regards the environment. John knew where he stood as regards the environment. We did not require legislation to ensure that, as custodians of that environment, we would do what we should do.

Many of them were way ahead of the posse, of whom he was one. It is a pity that we did not listen a little more closely when such people were advocates of good sense and personal responsibility. We are always careful not to use clichés or be patronising about an important person and I will not do so. However, John Carty epitomised many of the good qualities of the Irish character. He was very sincere in his beliefs. In public life there is a terrible temptation to go down the road of posturing and jockeying for position. As people do so, the edges of their sincerity can easily be chipped away, but this did not happen to John Carty.

John Carty epitomised "old decency". People of a certain age will understand the term which means courtesy and respect for others. In Ireland the edges of old decency are beginning to disappear. When we had such decency in our dealings with our neighbours and in our jobs and work as public representatives, we did not go too far wrong. The legacy John Carty has left to his family, friends, colleagues and community and the country is real and much more important than any stone monument or plaque on a wall. This legacy grows again and again. We can look back on his life with a great sense of inspiration, motivation and of how lucky we were to have known him, irrespective of politics, as a friend and colleague. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.