Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I came into this House in 2002. I grew up in a newsagent shop so we did not have to pay for our newspapers and I was able to read all of them. I was always intrigued about the life of Maurice Hayes and I met the great man when I came into the House for the first time. He was a man of dignity and respect and had a huge intellect, with a Rolls Royce of a mind. He knew that my grandfather came from Cullyhanna and in this House I welcomed the fact that Armagh had won the all-Ireland in 2002 but I was told to sit down. Senator Hayes, however, sitting behind me said, "Keep going, young man, you are doing what is right."

He was listened to very often and was a diplomat. Indeed, he was more a diplomat than a politician. If only he was listened to by Brian Faulkner when he said internment would be a disaster or when, as assistant secretary for the power-sharing executive, he said it had been rushed. His country and the island of Ireland is a much better place because of men such as Maurice Hayes. If he had been listened to at the seminal moments to which I referred, the country would have been a much better place back then. He was a wonderful husband and father to Johanna and his family and we were all very proud of him. He was a patriot of the island of Ireland.