The Late John Ryan
Posted by Alan Kelly on April 03, 2014 at 04:59 PM
It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of my predecessor and friend, former North Tipperary TD and Leas Ceann Comhairle, John Ryan. My thoughts are with his wife Ina and children Gerry, Diane and Paula. He was a giant of politics in Tipperary He was one of the hardest working TDs ever to enter Dáil Éireann. He would work for anyone and never took political allegiance into considera...tion. If he could help you he would leave no stone unturned. He was trusted and revered in a way you rarely see and news of his death will bring great sadness to many families especially in his hometown of Nenagh. He devoted all his working life to promoting social justice and a fairer society locally and nationally. He entered politics as a town councillor before being elected to the North Tipperary county council before being elected to the Dail in 1973. He also served in Seanad Eireann. He will be fondly by people of all political parties and none. He was a great campaigner, winning and holding seats often unexpectedly. On a personal level, he was an inspiration to me and one of the main reasons I decided to enter politics. I canvassed with him from a young age and I always looked up to him. I visited him a number of times in the recent past and he was always friendly and generous with his time even though his health wasn't always very good. John Ryan was absolutely dedicated to his family and he was particularly proud of Nenagh where he came from and the CBS who educated him and he also was a former president of Nenagh rugby club. The people of Tipperary and the Labour Party both locally and nationally will forever be in his debt. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam
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