Senator Gerard P. Craughwell - speech from 13 Jun 2019

Senator Gerard Crockwell To the Robb family, I want to welcome you here today. I did not know your father, and at the very outset I have got to admit that, but in reading about his life, clearly at the time he came to Seanad Eireann as a trauma surgeon from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, he knew exactly the country he was dealing with, he knew exactly the conflict that was going on in his part of the country, and he took the brave step of sitting in this parliament. Recently I had some friends from Northern Ireland in this house who were from the orange tradition, and one of them said to me as he left at the gates of Leinster House, he said, you know, when I came down here I thought when I walk in here I burst into flames, and he said, you know, you're not really bad people. John Robb clearly saw that. For a man to sit down and teach himself the Irish language, and I know it in the Irish Times they refer to the fact that not only did he teach himself to read and speak it, but that he was quite an accomplished writer in the Irish language, that is some achievement. So clearly he was a man that wanted to go beyond just being a member of this house. He wanted to experience the culture and the tradition that we claim to be our own down here. And it is people like John and Linda Irvine who have grasped the Irish traditions, the Irish culture, and have made it their own, and for that he will never be forgotten, I believe. He did blaze a trail for others who followed after him to come here and represent the north of Ireland, and the most recent addition to this house, one of the finest senators in this house, is my colleague Ian Marshall, who comes from the same tradition and has the same relaxed view, I would think. Although I never knew John Robb, it would appear he had a relaxed view of how he would integrate into a system that was predominantly Republican down here at the time. So, I know this, having lost my own father, there is never a good time to lose your father, Dad is Dad even if he is 80, Dad is still Dad if he was 180, it makes no difference. You will miss your father, you will miss him dearly, but know this, this country owes him a debt, and that debt will never be paid. And we are grateful to him for what he did. And I will finish by saying, blessed are the peacemakers, for he was one of the trailblazers in peace in Ireland. May he rest in peace. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, Senator.