Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome John Robb's son, William, his wife, Niamh, and his daughter, Martha. I would remind them that Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile is also here from the North and it is good, and it does bring something. I suppose that is the thing about the Seanad. This House facilitates the whole of the island and the discussion and it brings something really positive to the table. The exchange of ideas and learning across the island is to the benefit of everybody who is represented in this House.

John Robb was a pioneer in his working and political life. As a medical doctor, he sponsored new and innovative ideas and served the public, especially those who were hurt in the conflict and in need of urgent medical attention in hospitals. His diligence to those hurt in the conflict was reflected in his approach to politics. With others, he set up the New Ireland Group and the New Ireland Movement. I note "New Ireland" in the name of both organisations. That is what John Robb wanted to achieve.

He was a new islander. In the tradition of another north Antrim man, and a liberal Presbyterian, the Rev. J. B. Armour, who campaigned for Home Rule before partition, John Robb grew to love the Irish language, learned it and spoke it. He brought his refined and sharp mind to the need for a new and agreed Ireland and he was a man of peace.

He was dedicated to reconciling the people of this island in the most difficult days of the conflict, and when "peace" was a word that was rarely heard or used. He was often in the company of republicans and was very relaxed advocating his vision for a new Ireland. He did that in the Seanad when he was a Seanadóir here from 1982 to 1989. His vision of a new Ireland based on respecting and uniting the two main traditions on this island undoubtedly influenced those he met and those he spoke with. With others, he helped to lay the foundations for the peace we enjoy today and for the working relationship, however fraught, between unionists and nationalists.

He was an original thinker and he made an invaluable contribution to peace and reconciliation for a new island and for that, we are all grateful. May he rest in peace, while his legacy lives on away beyond.