THE Fianna Fail leader, Mr Ahern, paid a generous tribute to his colleague and rival, Mrs Maire Geoghegan Quinn, for her "talent, toughness and tenacity" in politics.
It was with great regret that he had learned of her decision not to go forward for Fianna Fail in the next general election in Galway West, he said in a statement yesterday.
"In her 20 years in Dail Eireann, just one more than her distinguished father, John, whom she was elected to replace, Maire has brought great distinction to herself her family and the Fianna Fail party by her commitment to the public good, her sound grasp of major public issues, and the clarity of communication which she always exercised," Mr Ahern said.
The fact that each Fianna Fail leader since Mr Jack Lynch had appointed her to high office as parliamentary secretary, Ireland's first woman Cabinet member since the foundation of the State Ireland's first woman Minister for Justice, and able spokesperson on health during his time as party leader, spoke volumes for the talent, toughness and tenacity she always exhibited.
Regretting her departure, he said it would be difficult to ensure that her important health portfolio was filled by someone of equal expertise and command as they continued to grapple with the national scandal of the hepatitis C infection, the impending nurses strike and the long waiting lists for major surgeries.
It was a sign of the times, perhaps, in which the profession of politics itself was under severe and continuing pressure not all of it justified that an incident involving a member of her family, and its coverage in the media should cause her and her family such hurt and pain.
The leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, expressed regret at Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's decision to retire from politics.
"Maire will be a big loss. She is one of the most formidable people in Irish politics. Leinster House will be all the poorer without her, but I wish her well in whatever she chooses to do in the future,"
The Minister of State, Mr Gay Mitchell, suggested that it was time TDs considered strengthening the role of the Ceann Comhairle by law to give him powers to promote the cause of elected public office and to help protect elected public servants from unjust intrusion and attack.
This objective might be achieved, he said, by the Ceann Comhairle, newspaper publishers and the National Union of Journalists setting out agreed guidelines on what was reasonable to report concerning the families and private lives of public representatives.
The chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Mr Phil Hogan, said that politics would be poorer for the departure of the former Fianna Fail minister.
The chairman of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, paid tribute to Mrs Geoghegan Quinn as an able and dedicated Minister and frontbench spokesperson who would be missed by her colleagues.
The chairperson of the Fianna, Fail National Women's Forum, Senator Marian McGennis, said that Mrs Geoghegan Quinn had been a shining light and honourable role model for all women in public life.