Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the 24 Senators who contributed to the Order of Business, the vast majority of whom paid tribute to our outgoing Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny. Together with the Cathaoirleach and all the Members of House, I extend, on my own behalf, on that of the Fine Gael Party and on that of the House, our every good wishes to An Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, to his wife, Fionnuala, and to his family, Naoise, Ferdia and Aoibhinn, on their historic contribution to public service in our country. When history is written and the analysis of the past six years and decade are looked back on, the name of Enda Kenny will stand brightly, with him being regarded as a man of honesty, integrity, humility, compassion and empathy and a man who did our country Trojan service.

The Taoiseach spoke today in the Dáil about politics being work worth doing, and he certainly did that. He will be recognised, as has been said here today, as being perhaps one of the best taoisigh we ever had. I say that not in the sense of hyperbole or drama but he took over as Taoiseach at a time of crisis in our country. He was the man who held the Government and our country together and who helped, with our people, to bring it to recovery. That is an important tribute to the man who, as Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell quite eloquently said, has been a man of imagination and of huge energy. Whether it was at 7.30 or 3.30 in the morning, he was still going, working on behalf of all of us.

The manner in which he represented our country across the world, whether it was at European Council meetings, in the White House or on trade missions to many parts of the world, was such that he was that ambassador who represented our country with pride and with distinction. Many of us on St. Patrick's Day looked on him with pride for the way in which he spoke about immigration and the way in which he said all of us must be looked at as people.

Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell spoke about Einstein and imagination. Enda Kenny was often criticised for being a man of no vision, but he had one great vision, that of the importance of employment, of work, of people having a job and of Ireland being the best small country in the world in which to do business. I am very proud to stand here as Leader of the House and pay tribute to him and thank him not only for his service as a Member of the Lower House but for having given 42 of years of his life to public service. Equally, when we talk about patriotism, we talk about people who have vision, and history will be very kind to Enda Kenny.

Senator Leyden, in his very humorous remarks, paid tribute to Fionnuala. It is important that we thank her today not for being a member of Fianna Fáil but for having the vision and the temerity to fall in love with Enda Kenny and to join him in matrimony to see the other side - the positivity of being a member of Fine Gael. The Senator is right in saying she was and is a wonderful women, and her family made a huge sacrifice for this country.