Victor Boyhan (Independent)

I join the Cathaoirleach, Leader, Members of this House and colleagues in expressing my deepest sympathies to Dr. Mansergh’s wife, Elizabeth, his children, and his former political colleagues and friends. He had many of the latter. While he was of course a loyal supporter of Fianna Fáil and an activist, he worked and collaborated with political people right across these Houses. One of his defining features was his collaboration, and how he could be trusted and entrusted with various responsibilities, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland and the peace process on the island of Ireland.Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins, highlighted Dr. Mansergh's enormous assistance with the Good Friday Agreement. He also highlighted his very significant contribution to the Border and wider peace process, and he did so very eloquently. I salute and acknowledge that too. The then Taoiseach who signed the Good Friday Agreement, Bertie Ahern, the former leader of Fianna Fáil, greatly encapsulated Dr. Mansergh's many qualities calling him "a straight talker who everyone trusted". Everyone trusted him. When people trust and respect you, it is easy for them do business with you and they have confidence doing so. That is the hallmark of his career and as a person. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, spoke of Dr. Mansergh's exceptional devotion to the cause of peace guided by the profound knowledge of this island's diverse history and the context of that diversity.

Senators and TDs of course, will be aware that he was a Member of both of these Houses. He was a member of the agricultural panel and I acknowledge his generous advice and guidance. I knew him well. He had a house in south Dublin, which I visited many times. However, his deep roots were in Tipperary. He was born in England but he was a nationalist and a republican in the truest sense of the word. He embraced all of that.

If one looks back on it, in many ways he was an unusual comrade or friend of Charles J. Haughey. He was, however, not that unusual. He had a love of agriculture. He had a love of antiquities. He had a love of forestry. He greatly spoke about Charles Stewart Parnell and Avondale and Horace Plunkett, the great advocates of forestry and agriculture in the early stages of the foundation of this State. Those subjects were loves of his. He had a huge interest in the bloodstock industry, as have most people in Tipperary and a great love and affinity for the land.

He was a proud and active member of the Church of Ireland and took a great interest in all of its affairs. That is something that the Church of Ireland is very proud of. He also had a great interest in its history too.

Martin loved Ireland. He had an affinity and love for this place, this island. He truly believed in the potential for a united island based on trust and respect, as well as the enormous potential for the island of Ireland in agriculture, food, industry and commerce. He hoped that the success of the Good Friday Agreement would continue to grow.

I will finish on this point. The Good Friday Agreement stands as valid today as it did over 25, 26 or 27 years ago. We must not be complacent, as Martin would not want us to be. We have to continue to work to build greater understanding, diversity, respect and co-operation with each other to ensure a lasting peace for all the people who live on this Ireland.

I am sorry for his loss and thank him for his service to both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.