An Taoiseach pays tribute to MJ Nolan

I want to thank MJ Nolan for his many years of long-service and commitment to his community and to Fianna Fáil. MJ Nolan has done trojan work for the people of Carlow-Kilkenny. He has been a strong advocate on their behalf in Dáil Éireann and he has represented them with skill and true ability.

MJ was already a well established member of our Parliamentary Party when I was first elected to the Dáil in a by-election in 1984. He was a welcoming colleague back then and my respect for him has grown further as the years have gone by. MJ and I have served together through some tumultuous times in Irish politics and I know him as a politician who has always been committed to the common good and the betterment of the Irish people.

MJ, of course, hails from a staunch Fianna Fáil family and his record of service to the people of Carlow-Kilkenny builds on the fine legacy of achievement of his father, Tom, who himself was a TD for over 17 years.

MJ has been a decent, competent and very popular colleague. I want to thank him and his wife Mary, their children and their extended family for their commitment to politics and to our party. I wish MJ well in his retirement and I thank him too for many years of friendship.