John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is an honour to be associated with the tributes to Maurice Hayes. I welcome all of the Hayes family to the Gallery as we celebrate and fondly remember a great statesman for the wonderful contribution he made to all of Ireland, North and South. I did not serve with him in the House, but even watching his statesmanlike contributions from a distance, it seemed to me that integrity, honesty, leadership, loyalty and commitment were his middle names.

I did get to know him at various GAA events over the years. I met the great Seán O'Neill down there and I welcome him to the Gallery as well. People like Seán O'Neill and the great Down team of that era have praised and revered the way that Maurice Hayes pulled all the strings together to bring Gaelic football into a new era. Senator Paddy Burke mentioned the oranges. The Down team in Croke Park was the first team to wear tracksuits; it is all very accepted now but it was not the case then. He broke many glass ceilings and the 1961 all-Ireland final had the highest attendance of any all-Ireland final. There were about 91,000 at it. Health and safety was not a major factor at the time. There were people on top of the Nally stand and on top of the walls and everything.

The Galway team of that era won three in a row before Down came back to win again. Having been associated with that Galway team, I know there was a great friendship and respect as well as rivalry between those teams. I was talking to George Glynn a few weeks ago, a native of Galway who was on one of those Down teams. He was telling me it was Maurice Hayes who heard of his exploits in the Sigerson Cup and that he was not playing for Galway, and he ended up working in County Down and winning an all-Ireland with Down. There was a great book-ending there of the rivalry but also the friendship between the Galway and Down teams.

It is a privilege to pay tribute to Maurice Hayes here. When I did meet him, the sincerity that the man exuded and the charisma confirmed everything that I had admired from afar in his contributions in this House and in various political and administrative roles over the years. I offer my deepest sympathy to the family. We will remember him fondly.