The Taoiseach paid warm tribute yesterday to former minister Dr Jim McDaid, who has announced he will not contest the next general election. Dr McDaid said yesterday he was stepping down "after thinking about my future over a long time".
Dr McDaid was a cabinet minister from 1997 to 2002, but was then demoted to minister of state level before being dropped to the backbenches in 2004. He has spoken publicly of his struggle with a drink problem, and was convicted last year of drink driving and dangerous driving, offences to which he pleaded guilty.
He was first embroiled in controversy in 1991 when, after his nomination as minister for defence, his agreement to give alibi evidence on behalf of a man accused of IRA-related offences was used by Fine Gael to suggest wrongly that he was an IRA sympathiser.
Mr Ahern said yesterday that he had shown "real strength in adversity" through "the dignified manner in which he had declined to be nominated" as minister on that occasion.
Mr Ahern yesterday thanked the Donegal North East deputy for his contribution to public life since his election to the Dáil in 1989. He said Dr McDaid had been considering leaving electoral politics for some time, and said he knew that "it is a decision he is taking for the best of all possible reasons".
Mr Ahern noted that last week Dr McDaid and his partner Siobhán O'Donnell had "shared the joy of the birth of their son Neal. I fully understand and support James McDaid's decision to move on", he said.
Paying tribute to the former minister he said he had "always stood out from the crowd. His life's experience, his medical background and his real compassion for people gave him a distinctive voice that will be missed in Irish politics."
As the first minister for sport in cabinet in 1997 he had made a real impact. "His finest achievement was the determined but sensitive way he addressed the issue of child sexual abuse in swimming. The Roderick Murphy Report that Dr McDaid commissioned is a model for effective child protection.
"As minister for tourism he presided over a period of enormous growth in the industry and he was a real champion for Irish tourism. In 1998 it was James McDaid who signed the contract to bring the Ryder Cup to Ireland.
"Now James and Siobhán begin to prepare for a new life after politics. I wish them many years of happiness together among their family, friends and community in Donegal."
Dr McDaid said yesterday that at the expected time of the next election he will have been a TD for 18 years.
"In that time I have had the privilege to serve as a minister for seven years and in cabinet for five years. Now the time has come for me to leave public life and to make way for others."
He expressed gratitude "to the people of Donegal and the members of Fianna Fáil who supported me through the highs and lows of political life. Today, I especially want to thank and pay tribute to the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern".
"It was he who gave me the opportunity to serve in Government, an opportunity, given to very few."
He also thanked his family for their support, noting that while they had never sought election, "at times some of the burden of my position fell upon them".
He said he had been lucky in the opportunities he had been given.
"Today, my deepest hope is that I have proved worthy of the chance that I was so generously given."