Eamon Gilmore TD

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GILMORE HAILS PATTISON’S UNIQUE RECORD OF PUBLIC SERVICE

Issued : Tuesday 30 October, 2007

It is not just an honour, but also a great privilege to have been asked to address this function to mark the retirement from public life of a man who was not only one of the most respected and admired figures in Leinster House over a period of 46 years, but who is also rightly regarded as political legend in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency.

When Seamus Pattison carried out his final functions as Leas Ceann Comhairle on the last day of the 29th Dail on April 26th of this year, it marked the culmination of an extraordinary political career as a public representative that ranged from membership of Co Kilkenny VEC and the Southern Eastern Health Board to terms in the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. And the great thing about Seamus was regardless of whether it was the Kilkenny VEC or the European Parliament, he approached it with the same great determination and commitment.

When Seamus retired in April he was Father-of-the House, a courtesy titled given to the longest serving member of the Dail. But that title does not fully convey the magnitude of Seamus's service as a TD. Seamus served 46 years as a member of our Parliament. Think about that. Seamus was a member of the Dail for more than half of the time that this state has been in existence.

The Ireland that elected Seamus in 1961 was very different to the Ireland of the 21st century. There was a census in 1961, which put our population at 2.81m, the lowest level ever recorded. National morale was at a low ebb. Emigration was still the only option for tens of thousands of young men and women from this and other constituencies. Rural electrification had still not reached many remote areas. Despite the heroic efforts of people like Noel Browne, disease and ill-health were still major problems. Free second level education was still five years away. RTE television only came on the air on New Years Eve of that year. We should never forget the role that people like Seamus Pattison played in turning this country around and helping to create the modern society we now enjoy.

The 1961 general election was a very good one for the Labour as it increased its representation by four seats, including the one secured by Seamus here in Carlow-Kilkenny. The Dail was a very different place also. Seamus found himself sharing the Dail benches with legendary figures of Irish politics. Many of the veterans of the War of Independence and the Civil War were still members of the House - figures like Frank Aiken, Dan Breen, Major General Sean MacEoin. He was there with legendary figures of the Labour Movement - Dan Spring, William Norton and others. People like Seamus acted as a political bridge between the older political generation who won the state's independence and later political figures who moulded it into a modern society.

Some of the legislation Seamus found himself dealing with in 1961 included the Holiday (Employees) Act, the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, the Defamation Act, the Civil Liability Act and the Medical Practitioners Act, and as we are still dealing with these many issues it shows that whatever about changes in other areas, the legislative agenda still has a remarkably familiar ring about it.

In 1961he world was a place of great tension. Irish troops serving with the United Nations in the Congo came under attack on several occasions during the year. In January, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. The United States launched its ill-fated invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. In August the Berlin Wall was built. The Cold War was at its height and there was a real fear of a nuclear holocaust.

In sport Down beat Kerry to take the Sam Maguire, while two weeks earlier Tipperary beat Dublin by a single point to win the McCarthy Cup. I think that was probably the last occasion on which Dublin featured in an All-Ireland hurling final, but to the rest of us, it sometimes seems that that was the last final that Kilkenny wasn't in!

One of the most remarkable things about Seamus Pattison's career was not just the longevity, but also the breadth of his experience and the range of positions he held. A member and Chairman of Kilkenny County Council. A member of Kilkenny Corporation and Mayor on three separate occasions. A member and Vice Chair of Kilkenny Vocational Education Committee. Thirteen years as a member of the South Easter Health Board.

In the Dail he was at different times Spokesperson on Education, Justice, Lands, Defence and Marine, and Energy and Forestry as well, of course, as serving as Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare for four years from 1983 to 1987.

But the pinnacle of Seamus's Oireachtas career was without doubt his election as Ceann Comhairle in 1997. This is one of the highest constitutional offices in the land. It is a position of great responsibility that involves not just chairing the Dail, but also serving on key state bodies such the Council of State and the Presidential Commission.

But of course it is in the role as Chair of the Dail that the Ceann Comhairle is most in the public eye. A successful Ceann Comairle is one who enjoys the respect of all sides of the House. Indeed the fact that Seamus was nominated to the position by Dick Spring, then in opposition, and supported by Fianna Fail, then in government, was testament to the regard in which he was held.

The Dail can be lively place and sometimes it can be rowdy and even disorderly. It takes great tact and patience to keep order, but Seamus showed those skills in his period as Ceann Comhairle. Indeed I am sure that he will be the first to confirm that on many occasions it was his own party colleagues who stretched his legendary tolerance to close to breaking point!

In his capacity as Ceann Comhairle, Seamus had the job of welcoming many international figures of great repute to the Dail. The addresses to the Dail by Tony Blair and Seamus's response to it is one that stands out in my mind.

But then Seamus was a great internationalist before most of use knew what he word meant. He represented Ireland abroad on many occasions as both Ceann Comhairle and Leas Ceann Comhairle and I know that he greatly enjoyed his terms in both the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

But there was always be a special bond between Seamus Pattison and the people of this constituency. Between himself and his father, James, they gave 68 years of service as TDs for this constituency. For 75 years, with just two short three-year breaks, a Pattison represented Carlow-Kilkenny in the Dail Is there any other family, in any party, in any part of the country, who can claim such an outstanding record.

It was, of course, a great disappointment to all of us in the Labour Party that, despite the best efforts of Jim Townend and Michael O'Brien, we were unable to retain the Labour seat in this constituency at the May election. The recovery of this seat will be one of my main electoral targets for the next General Election.

Carlow-Kilkenny needs a Labour Party TD and the Labour Party needs a TD in Carlow Kilkenny. I will work with you in every way I can to ensure that it become a reality. We have strong representation at local authority level in the two counties and we must work to build on this in the local elections in 2009. It is also my intention to win back a European Parliament seat for the Labour Party in the Leinster Constituency in 2009. Again members in this constituency will be crucial to us achieving this objective.

Earlier in my comments I pointed out how Ireland had been transformed since 1961, due to the work of people like Seamus Pattison. Things are much, much better, but there is no room for complacency. We need to bring the country on the next stage of its journey, shaping the Ireland of the future. Labour's place is up at the front, again leading the way. We must harness our economic success to make a better society and to end poverty; to secure the future for our children, economically and ecologically; to make the public space safe and the public service more efficient; to get climate change under control and to put people first in this changing global centrury.

This is the challenge. Seamus and his colleagues met the even greater challenges of the earlier generations. If we stay true to the values that motivated them and emulate their commitment and dedication then we, too, can succeed.