Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to be too repetitive but there are certain things I would like to mention about Rory. I welcome his family and I want to remember him and, indeed, his late wife. I have been at a number of these tributes since I became a Member of the Seanad in April 2016 and I have never seen so many people, including so many former Members, in the Visitors Gallery, or current Members sitting in the Chamber, of all parties and none. That reflects the warmth and affection for Rory, who was here for pretty much 30 years straight, perhaps with one tiny blip. At the same time, the last time he put himself forward to run was in 2002, which is 17 years ago. There are a lot of people who are not around now who were around then and a lot of people who have come into the system since who would not necessarily have been canvassed by Rory for the Seanad, unlike Senators O'Sullivan, Leyden and Wilson.

I remember becoming a councillor in 2003 and becoming very aware of Rory quite soon. Until I came into the Seanad myself, I did not get the opportunity to talk to him all that often. The first time I had a really good conversation was at a lovely event, the conferring of the honorary doctorate on Brian Cowen by the NUI in June or July 2017. A number of us, including quite a number who are in the Visitors Gallery, were in the Dame Tavern that evening, and he seemed to know an awful lot more about me than I thought he would. We had a long chat and a great conversation.