Political Quotes

“I have come to this Chamber to pay tribute to Dermot Gallagher, an Irish diplomat and civil servant who I was deeply saddened to hear passed away on January 15, 2017, after a lifetime dedicated to public service. Dermot Gallagher was a friend of the United States. His career overseas was bookended by tours here, having first been posted at the Irish consulate in San Francisco in 1971 before serving at the United Nations in New York, the Irish Embassy in London, with the European Commission in Brussels, as Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, and ultimately returning to the U.S. as the Irish Ambassador in Washington. He is perhaps best known for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process. For decades, Dermot was involved in efforts to bring about peace and reconciliation. He was involved in the Sunningdale negotiations in 1973, implementation of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in the late 1980s, and ultimately the negotiations and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, when he used his ``emollient style of negotiation and diplomacy,'' as former junior minister and former Senator Martin Mansergh aptly described, to make significant contributions. Dermot was also my friend. Over the course of his 6 years as Ambassador, my wife Marcelle and I came to know Dermot and his wife, Maeve, and I was fortunate to retain his friendship long after he returned to Ireland to advance the cause of peace.…”