'Rich, long life' as campaigner and father recalled at Loftus funeral

NOTHING SEÁN Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus did in his life was motivated by personal gain, his daughter, Muireann, said yesterday.

At the funeral of the environmental campaigner, former TD and lord mayor of Dublin, she told mourners that he had qualities of integrity, honesty and tenacity in abundance.

“We remember his immense generosity of spirit, his humour and his courage,’’ she said.

The funeral Mass at St Gabriel’s Church, Dollymount, north Dublin, was celebrated by Fr Cormac McIlraith, assisted by Fr Micheál Hastings and Fr Micheál McGreil. He was later buried at St Fintan’s Cemetery, Sutton.

On the coffin, which was draped in the lord mayor’s flag, were a copy of the Bible and a photograph of Mr Loftus in his lord mayor’s robes.

Members of Dublin Fire Brigade stood at the foot of the altar with the mayoral mace and sword.

A garland of flowers placed in front of the altar was from his own garden which, Muireann said, he nurtured with patience and dedication.

She said Mr Loftus’s family would remember him as a kind and loving husband and father.

“We remember summer holidays in Cootehill and Mullaghmore, sunny days on the beach, walks through the woods, picnics of chocolate sandwiches, sandy bananas and warm milk,” she added. “We remember games of Ludo and mugs of cocoa on summer nights. We remember Sunday walks down the Bull Wall and the stories he would tell, creating the fantastic out of the banal.” She also recalled the excitement of elections, “heading out with our schoolbags full of leaflets, leap-frogging from house to house, thinking in the early years that this was something all children did”.

Her father, she said, had a good life, full, rich and long, and he had used it well.

“He spent 25 years as a councillor and alderman of Dublin City Council, and eight short months as a TD, but the highlight was probably the year he spent as lord mayor from 1995 to 96,” she added.

What mattered more than merely a list of achievements, said Muireann, was the abstract qualities he embodied and how his life affected everyone it touched.

The chief mourners were Mr Loftus’s wife, Una, Muireann, his other daughter, Fiona, and his son, Ruairí.

The attendance included Dublin mayor Gerry Breen. President Mary McAleese was represented by her aide-de-camp Comdt Michael Walsh, and Taoiseach Brian Cowen by his aide-de-camp Comdt Michael Treacy.

Also present were Minister of State for Education Seán Haughey; Finian McGrath TD; former TDs Roger Garland, Alexis Fitzgerald, Mary Flaherty and Fergus O’Brien; councillors Larry O’Toole, Christy Burke, Emer Costello and Dermot Lacey.