Tanaiste leads tributes to Dr McDaid’s lifetime serving community, county and country

Tanaiste and leader of the Fianna Fail party, Micheál Martin, last night led tributes to Dr James McDaid.

In what turned out to be a hugely-successful night in honour of the former Government Minister and local TD, hundreds of people turned out at Letterkenny’s Mount Errigal Hotel to honour one of their own.

But the event was far from just a celebration of one of Donegal’s most successful politicians.

It also marked Dr McDaid’s 50 years in medicine, a lifetime in sports and also his 21 years in the corridors of power in Dail Eireann.

As well as Ministers, Senators and county councillors, many of those gathered in the main function room of the hotel included the many people who shared life moments with James McDaid down through the years.

These included his family, many form the sporting arena including his beloved St Eunans GAA Club but also many former patients whom he served loyally down through the decades.

It was an occasion for those people to say a simple thank you to a man who always put people before money or his own benefit.

Co-hosts on the night, local county councillor Ciaran Brogan and journalist and now Government adviser Ciaran O’Donnell, invited a number of people to pay tribute to Dr McDaid.

They included his former Fianna Fail mentor and businessman Noel McGinley, former Letterkenny University Hospital manager Pat Harvey, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue and former county councillor and proprietor of the Mount Errigal Hotel, Terry McEniff.

All spoke about many different experiences they shared with Dr McDaid down through the years.

But the theme running through those tributes remained the same, a man of decency.

Mr McGinley recalled how himself and the late Bernard McGinley had to convince Dr McDaid that he was the man to represent Donegal in Dail Eireann but once elected he never looked back.

Pat Harvey spoke of how he once put out a call for GPs to assist in the emergency department at Letterkenny Hospital and how Dr McDaid was one of the first to respond and how he led by example and was added and respected by staff there.

Minister McConalogue revealed how he was only 12 when Dr McDaid first became a TD but how he was always there if he needed advice or support in his own political career.

Terry McEniff said that Dr McDaid will be remembered for many things but for him his stance on the cervical cancer vaccine will be one which will always stand out to him.

He recalled how in 2008 Dr McDaid abstained from a vote on a Fine Gael motion calling for the reversal of a decision to roll out the vaccine free of charge to young women.

That decision was eventually reversed by Minister Mary Harney in 2010.

Mr McEniff said that recent projections suggested Ireland will be free of cervical cancer in 2040 is thanks in no small part to the foresight of Dr McDaid.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin revealed how himself and Dr McDaid actually entered Dail Eireann on the same day in 1989.

“Jim has made an extraordinary contribution to his locality, to Donegal and indeed to his country. That is why I was very anxious to get here and to be here in the midst of his community who have come out in such a large number to pay tribute to him and to acknowledge his contribution,” he said.

He added that as well as sharing many great moments in Dail Eireann with ‘Jim”, he learned a lot from him and particularly in the health arena.

Mr Martin said the Government from 1997 to 2002 was, in his opinion, one of the most successful Governments in the history of the state in terms of the amount of work it got through.

Part of this was the Good Friday Agreement and the Peace Process and Mr Martin said Dr McDaid had a great insight into that given his location in Donegal.

He added that when he spoke to people in recent days and told them he was coming up to Donegal to hnour Dr McDaid, a number of words came popping up.

“Capability, decency, humour. Jim was great fun and was good company and that’s important in life. He was an interesting person you wanted to talk to and engage with. People always smiled when talking of Jim, happy memories of Jim around Leinster House in terms of politics itself. ”

He said that on a sporting front if people traveled around the country there are hundreds of plaques on sporting halls and other facilities which Jim McDaid opened in his time as Minister for Sport and Tourism.

“There are young people playing on those pictures and in those halls. We’re a sports mad country and participation is very high and we owe a lot of that to the pioneering work of Jim McDaid when he was the Minister for Sport.”

He added that Dr McDaid was also one of the most fearless politicians he had come across and “when I say fearless I mean that he spoke his mind and one of the few politicians I have seen in Leinster House who never really looked over his shoulder with caution or with worry as to what people would think of what he said or articulated.”

The Tanaiste added that Dr McDaid had the capacity to sometimes say uncomfortable things in the midst of his colleagues and be heard and that still people would engage with him.

“I think that was a very important public service in itself and a public contribution because democracy depends on honest debate, teasing out arguments….”

He finally thanked Dr McDaid on behalf of Fianna Fail for representing the party with such enthusiasm, passion and integrity in his time in politics.

“We are very proud of you and very proud of what you have achieved as a public representative and as a doctor and may you enjoy many, many more years of happiness here in Donegal and beyond with Siobhan and the family and all of your friends and community.

“It has been my privilege to have served with you in Government and it is a particular privilege to be here this evening to say a heart felt thanks to you for all that you have achieved,” said the Tanaiste.

And on a night which was all about him, Dr McDaid was his usual modest self saying the honour and privilege was his as he represented Donegal.

He thanked the Tanaiste whom he described as a “personal friend” for being here to help him celebrate the occasion.

He firstly said he would never have had a career in medicine without the support of his late mother and his uncle Neil following the early passing of his father at the age of just 45.

As he heads towards his 74th year, Dr McDaid said he also wanted to thanks his family for their part in his education saying that “there was only room for one going to university at that time” and that he was the lucky one.

He also thanked Paddy and Maureen Scally who offered him a role in their GP practice in Letterkenny where he remained up until his retirement last year.

“The rest is history,” said Dr McDaid as he paid tribute to his former colleagues in Scally Practise including Dr Dara Scally and Dr Ciaran Roarty.

On his political career, Dr McDaid said politics was certainly a tough game and if he was asked again to do it all over again he would say “yes” saying he made some great friends, traveling the length and breadth of the country and further beyond.

He said he was lucky enough to open so many places in his term as Minister for Tourism and Sport and said the naming of the St Eunans Stand at O’Donnell Park after him is something he is very proud of and he will never forget.

He paid tribute to all of his political team saying they fought and won five elections particularly singling out the women’s committee on his canvassing team for their work.

Without singling out names he did mention his mentor Noel McGinley saying in his 21 years in public life he assisted him in any way he could.

He added that while it was not possible to thank everyone “suffice to say I know who you are.”

He did make a special mention to his friend and St Eunans stalwart Charlie Harvey who could not make it on the night but were represented by his family.

He thanked the media, both local and national, on their “fair and balance” reporting of his “highs and lows” down through the years in his time in public life.

He fittingly summed up his life in public life and what might lie ahead to a race on one of his favourite horse-racing tracks.

“I would compare my time in politics to one of my favourite sports, horse-racing. You could say, or those that know me, I hit a few fences along the way and may have stumbled on landing but we always got up and stayed on our feet and continued on.

“At this stage I think it is safe to say that I have reached the ‘elbow’.  For those of you who don’t know what the elbow means, that is that famous last turn at Aintree Racecourse  before that long run into the straight and possible glory forever.

“I am hoping that that long run-in will be just that for me.

“But last but by no means least I would like to thank my wife Siobhan and our family. None of what I achieved over those years would have been possible without your help and support. As I said earlier, I look forward with you to that long run-in with you.”