Seamus Brennan Passes

Irish Voice News

Seamus Brennan Passes

July 16, 2008

By Paddy Clancy

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Brian Cowen led a host of tributes to the life and political career of former Cabinet minister Seamus Brennan, who died on Wednesday, July 9, aged 60, at his home in Churchtown, Dublin.

He had been fighting cancer for some time. While political colleagues were aware of the battle, most Irish people only learned of his illness when he said he wasn’t making himself available for a position in Cowen’s Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year.

McAleese said Brennan played a major role in the building of modern Ireland. His achievements and contribution would leave a lasting mark on the country.

Cowen said his former Fianna Fail colleague would be remembered as a brilliant political strategist and would be hugely missed by everyone in the party.

Cowen continued, “His achievements were many and they were of enormous consequence.”

Cowen quoted the words of John F. Kennedy on the poet Robert Frost, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”

Cowen said Brennan put his shoulder to the national wheel at a time when it would have been easier to sit on the sideline. “Seamus was a doer, a servant of the people. His overriding motivation was to advance the cause of Ireland and its people.”

Health Minister Mary Harney, who remained a close friend of Brennan even after she defected from Fianna Fail to the fledgling Progressive Democrats, said she was deeply saddened by the death of a friend and colleague who devoted his entire life to the betterment of his country and his community in south Dublin.

Opposition leaders were also fulsome in their praise. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Brennan brought a deep understanding and humanity to the many ministries that he held.

Labor Party leader Eamon Gilmore paid a similar tribute, saying the former minister served with distinction in all the portfolios that he held.

A minute’s silence was observed in the Dail as a mark of respect to Brennan’s memory.

The Church of the Holy Cross in the Dublin suburb of Dundrum was packed to capacity over half an hour before the funeral Mass began.

In the course of an emotional ceremony, the congregation sang “The West’s Awake,” a favorite of the Galway-born politician.

Brennan, who entered politics in university and at the age of 25, was general secretary of the FF party -– its youngest ever –- and represented Dublin South in the Dail for the past 27 years.

He founded the party’s youth wing, Ógra Fianna Fáil, and was credited with introducing U.S.-style razzmatazz to Irish electioneering in 1977.

When in government, he held a string of ministerial portfolios, including education, transport and most recently arts, sport and tourism.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary reckoned Brennan was the “most visionary” of all the transport ministers he encountered.

In Brennan, O’Leary seemed to have found a fellow supporter of the free market. Brennan revolutionized Ryanair’s fortunes by giving the airline exclusive access to the Dublin/Stansted (London) route in the early 1990s.

Ryanair had gone to Brennan saying it was facing bankruptcy, prompting the hugely controversial “two airlines policy” designed to ensure competition in Ireland’s fledgling aviation industry.

Brennan soon developed a growing professional respect for O’Leary, observing, “You have to admire someone who built what will probably be the biggest airline in the world.”

Born in Galway in 1948, Brennan was the son of a builder who ran his own business. He attended an all-Irish speaking primary school and then St. Joseph’s College run by the Patrician Brothers. He developed an early interest in politics and began to canvass for Fianna Fail in his teenage years.

He met his wife, Ann O’Shaughnessy, at university where he graduated with a degree in economics. The couple had two sons and four daughters.

His heroes were John F. Kennedy and Sean Lemass who was taoiseach from 1959 to 1966.

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