Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will conclude by thanking former Senator Michael Finucane for being here today. It is great to see you here, Michael. You soldiered a long time with Mary. You were good friends, and your presence today adds to our occasion. I thank our Oireachtas colleagues, Deputies Feighan and O'Dowd and the Ministers of State, Deputies O'Donnell and O'Donovan, for being here. Their presence in the Chamber today is a testimony to their friendship with and the memory they have of our friend Mary Jackman, and I thank them most sincerely for being here this afternoon.

Today is a day not just to pay tribute and to mourn but also to give thanks and to remember, as we have done this afternoon, to a wonderful person. Senator McGahon spoke about the by-election. I had forgotten about the by-election. I canvassed with my friend, former Senator Dino Cregan. We were deployed down to the heart of Limerick to canvas. Mary Jackman, as all of us have said here, lit a fire under many people in particular parts of Limerick who would never have had an opportunity otherwise. Senator McGahon very eloquently spoke about her near-election to Dáil Éireann. She never bemoaned that, at least publicly. She was very dignified and very stoic. She served in this House and, as Senator Maria Byrne said, on the council and subsequently on the VEC.

Today we remember a wonderful woman and politician. To Nick, Nicola, Ursula, the grandchildren and the rest of the family, your loss is still felt and you grieve and you mourn, but I hope you take solace from today that we as members of the parliamentary community give thanks and celebrate a wonderful person. You will, I hope, take some comfort from today. To her grandsons, remember your grandmother. She was a political figure and she left a legacy, and I hope that you can in some way walk in her footsteps.

I ask Members to stand for a moment's silence.