Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to pass on the deepest sympathies of the Labour Party to our Fine Gael colleagues, John's wife Finola, his sons, his daughter, his grandchildren and his brother, Richard, and his sister, Mary. It is difficult to speak about a man I did not know but knew of because he dominated my early political life, especially following the very personal perspectives of Senators Doherty, O'Reilly and McDowell's on our former Taoiseach. I will not take up too much time as I understand our Fine Gael colleagues will want to take some time to pay tribute but from a Labour Party perspective it is fitting that we are having tributes in this House this week, the week after the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored.His role in the process is often overlooked and, in some cases, written out. We will particularly remember him for giving space to the unionist community and allowing the unionist community at that stage in the late 1990s to feel safe to come into a process, and for working towards not just the historic Good Friday Agreement, but perhaps the most significant part of that process, which was the 1994 ceasefire. John Bruton was very sensitive to the unionist perspective and reached a hand out to them at a time when nobody else would.

Last night, I was watching an interview he did with Sean O’Rourke when he was Taoiseach, where he talked about the picture of John Redmond that he hung on his wall and how he was very proud of that picture. I also thought he used very diplomatic language when he came to speak about Michael Collins, and I say that diplomatically. It is incredible that he had a very different perspective that he was not afraid to articulate within Irish politics, and that created space for other people to feel safe. He was a vehement pacifist and because of that, he was able to reach across the table during that turbulent political era of the 1990s.

When I watch what is happening in Gaza at the moment, I am often struck by how, in the mid-1990s, the Northern Irish peace process and the Middle East peace process were both running in tandem at the same time, and the difference that 30 years has made here in comparison to the Middle East. The Oslo Accords were held up for us as something we should follow but, unfortunately, peace has not been reached in that region, whereas we have entered a period of great stability. Great thanks is owed to John Bruton for that.

From the Labour Party perspective, in 1995, he rescued us or took us, or whatever people called it at the time, but he managed to keep that rainbow coalition together despite the doubts of very many people. He had people from different sides in a three-party coalition working together very efficiently at a time when nobody thought they would.

I will finish with a tribute that my former party leader, Dick Spring, paid to him today, which I think best sums up John Bruton from our perspective. He said that we will perhaps remember him as someone who was viscerally opposed to violence in all of its forms yet still found a way, in the interests of peace, to work with those who espoused violence, and as somebody from a deeply conservative background who was then able to lead change and contribute to progressive change. I think it is the mark of an extraordinary politician that he was somebody who came from one political perspective but, in the interests of working together and progressing positive change, he managed to do that, particularly through the 1990s and 2000s.

My deepest respect to my Fine Gael colleagues on the other side of the House. I look forward to hearing the other contributions.