Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I welcome Mona, Mary, John, Mona and Des's grandchildren, and Deputies Mattie McGrath and Jackie Cahill. It is always said that one can judge people by their friends and the company they keep. I can honestly say that has always been my experience of the Hanafins. They have always been joyful, positive people who bring added value to life's experiences through their company in both their political life and their social, community and public life. I acknowledge that because it is important to say.

I was thinking yesterday about when I first met Des Hanafin. I met him in the company of the great P.V. Doyle in the Burlington Hotel in the early 1980s. I was only 20. We were having a debate about politics. I met him again many years later in the late 1980s after a lot of kerfuffle in Fianna Fáil. It was interesting that someone had said that Des was loyal to Fianna Fáil. Of course he was loyal to Fianna Fáil, but he was never blind to political faults in anyone, including those in Fianna Fáil. To me that was the measure of the man's integrity and standing. When I met him the second time it was at the time of the foundation of the Progressive Democrats by Des O'Malley in the late 1980s.I remember him saying "Be not afraid", which always struck me as his credo. That was his strong and continuous belief. I met him many times after that. He was always saying "Ah, it'll all settle. Be not afraid." I thought it was a very courageous line - a very simple but very powerful line.

I pay tribute to Des but also to John, who has done an enormous work in local government and who previously served as a Senator, and to Mary, who was a great colleague and friend of mine and who has done amazing things, with children and education being the two areas that stand out. Having been personally involved in child welfare, I can say that I have not met anybody who is more caring and compassionate about an equal start in life for children or about education. She did enormous pioneering work as the first Minister of State with responsibility for children and produced a strategy for children in Ireland. I acknowledge that. Clearly, John and Mary's great love of people comes from their father and mother. There is no question of that because their work in political life - some people might see this as a criticism but I see it as something very positive - defines them. They do not draw a distinction between their beliefs, their education, their standing or their political lives - they embody them. They are what they are. There is no other side to them, which is something that comes about only rarely in politics.

Des was an honest and outspoken man but he was never bitter. He was always kind. They are the words I want to go out from here today - "honest", "outspoken", "courageous", "never afraid", "always decent" and "always kind". He left a very special mark here and I know he left a very special mark on his family. If we have to do anything about the legacy of people, it is to live that legacy and carry their aspirations with us. We do so proudly and we never hide our beliefs or convictions, particularly in the context of the roles we play in our communities. I genuinely look forward to seeing both John and Mary not only in this House but in the Lower House in the future. I hope to see both of them back here. I also look forward to seeing Mona, an elegant and beautiful lady, in the future. It is great to see her here looking so well and it is great to see her family.