Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

A Leas-Chathaoirligh, I want to identify immediately with the heartfelt and emotional words you have spoken about our late colleague, Feargal Quinn. His loss to his family is immense. His loss to Irish democracy is also immense. His loss to Irish society, the economy and the wider Republic in which he lived is immense.

I first came into touch with Feargal Quinn when he was simply a successful businessman and I was a lawyer. Later, when I became a Minister and came to appreciate the virtues of this House, I dealt with him on a number of matters. I found him to be courteous, patriotic and unfailingly decent in all his dealings with his colleagues and the wider general public. He was a member of the Independent group and it is a great honour today to speak on behalf of that group in tribute to Feargal Quinn.

He believed in Irish democracy. Many people who had achieved as much as he did in business would have rested on their laurels and done nothing further in their lives, but he, as the Leas-Cathaoirleach said, determined that he would devote a very considerable portion of his life from 1993 onwards to the service of Irish democracy. As the Leas-Cathaoirleach pointed out, he did so while eschewing his salary simply because he believed in the contribution he could make, as a successful businessman, to this Chamber.

He was a man of very strong views, even though he was a man of immense gentility. He was more conservative than, say, I would be, but he never allowed his conservative views on moral matters to obtrude in his dealings with others with whom he might have disagreed. As the Leas-Cathaoirleach pointed out, he was a man who spent many hours engaged in charitable work in this city and elsewhere.

Most importantly, he really devoted himself to making sure that this Chamber worked effectively to do the work which the Constitution envisaged for it. When the proposal to abolish this Chamber came into the public domain, he contacted me because he knew I was opposed to the measure and, with the late Noel Whelan, the current Minister, Deputy Zappone, and Dr. Brian Hunt, who is here today, we, in our small way, contributed to the campaign to preserve the Seanad. Other people, including Senator Norris, did Trojan work as well. The crucial thing was that when Senator Quinn, as he then was, went out into the streets of Irish towns and cities, he swung that campaign by simply being the man he was and reminding people of the value of this House. Although his health was not good at that time, and he was not capable of sustained campaigning, he pretended that he was in perfect health, and he posed for photographs and the like as if he was a youngster. He made it very clear to all those who met him - and crowds flocked to him - that he was there to sell them the message that Irish democracy was about to be damaged in a very serious way by the abolition of this House, and he appealed to them to vote to retain this House.

I know that the last article he wrote for The Sunday Business Postjust a week before he died, which was published the day after his funeral, pleaded with the Government of the day to deliver on reforming this House and making sure it plays its full part. Although those reforms may be a matter of controversy from time to time, it is undoubtedly the case that, having saved this House, as he did, we owe him the duty at least to take his posthumously published article seriously and to do something to make this House more effective as a Chamber of the Irish Parliament.

Former Senators Maurice Manning and Seán Barrett are here, and I want to pay tribute to them as Members of this House who have always had its interests at heart. Most of all, I want to finish on a point to the extended Quinn family here today, and I put on my most colourful tie for the occasion, though I draw the line at the socks. I want to say to the Quinn family that we are deeply grateful to them for what their father, grandfather, husband and brother has done for Irish society. Although it is hardly necessary to say it, on the occasion that I launched his recent biography at his request, it struck me that his family meant the most to him. Of all his relations and all his achievements, his family represented his greatest love and his greatest priority. On behalf of the Independent group, and I think I speak on behalf of everybody in this House, I thank the Quinn family most sincerely for what Feargal Quinn did for Irish democracy. His gentle smile, his gentle nature, are always living in our hearts.