No surprise that Seán Barrett’s funeral fell on a day of national ructions.
He had seen more than his fair share of them over his 34 years as a Fine Gael TD, minister, government chief whip and ceann comhairle.
Barrett’s final journey took place in very familiar surroundings – with the family he loved, in the south Dublin village where he was reared and while a political controversy was in full flow.
He died on Monday at the age of 81 and the Church of the Assumption in Dalkey was packed on Friday for the man whose job it was to keep order in Dáil Éireann in the turbulent years following the financial crash.
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It wasn’t the easiest task and the highly exasperated ceann comhairle’s patience frequently, and entertainingly, ran out.
Among the symbols of his life brought to the altar by his grandchildren was a large gavel, representing his long service in national politics as a deputy for Dún Laoghaire and subsequent elevation to the Chair.
Among the congregation was current Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, who remarked afterwards that cinn comhairlí could do with a sturdy gavel like the one presented earlier rather than the dinky little paddle used to tinkle the bell in the Dáil when proceedings take a turn for the unruly.
Barrett would have seconded that.
The parish priest of Dalkey, Fr David Brough, said that Barrett was “a dedicated parliamentarian” who served in a number of government departments and officiated as ceann comhairle with “great, measured firmness”.
Brough recalled how Barrett liked to joke about when he was minister for defence and the marine in the late 1990s.
“One department in his day that, after him, it took two to fill.”
The proof was in the pew alongside Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris. The Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, sitting side by side and smiling at Seán’s remark.
Heydon took time out from the aforementioned political ructions to attend the funeral service. He was due back at his department directly afterwards for a crisis meeting on the fuel protests and blockades crippling the country.
Local TD and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill also attended, along with Minister of State Colm Brophy.
But for all his achievements on the national stage, noted Brough, Seán Barrett’s family was “his greatest joy and his deepest legacy”.
[ Seán Barrett hopes to be remembered for being fairOpens in new window ]
He was also “a kind and thoughtful neighbour. A man who had time for people, who was interested, engaged and welcoming. He lived his life generously and with a genuine warmth in personality.”
Other items symbolising the former TD’s life and, particularly, his huge interest in sport were a Bective rugby club jersey, two ties from Killiney Golf Club and Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales, where he was a member, and a set of racing binoculars.
There was also a door latch, in a nod to his favourite expression at the end of a good night when a final drink was to be called: “We’ll have the bang of the latch.”
The eulogy was jointly delivered by Barrett’s sons Rob and John.
“Dad was a man known to many for his service to Ireland, but to us he was simply a devoted husband, father, and grandad to 17 grandkids,” they said of their father, who was the son of the local postman.
Seán Barrett is survived by his wife and “best friend” of 58 years, Sheila, and by Sarah, Jaci, Lynda, John and Rob.
His tricolour-draped coffin was shouldered from the church to the song “My Way”.
Also among the mourners were former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes and former ministers Charlie Flanagan, Nora Owen and Mary Mitchell O’Connor. Barry Ward, FG TD for Dún Laoghaire, and former MEP Avril Doyle were also in attendance, as was local Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin.
