Statement by Bertie Ahern TD following the death of Senator Edward Kennedy

Posted on 26/08/09 by Bertie Ahern In Senator Edward Kennedy, Ireland has lost a great friend and America has lost a great leader.
Born in privilege and raised in a powerful political family, it is Ted Kennedy's great achievement that his own life transcended tragedy and not only emulated but surpassed the achievement of his brothers who he revered.
The causes, for which he stood, civil rights, health care, immigrant workers and Ireland, are all immensely endowed because of the decades of unstinting effort, political skill and campaigning zeal which he dedicated his life to.
He lived to see two great chasms bridged, between Catholic and Protestant in Northern Ireland and between black and white in his own United States. These achievements which were the dreams imagined by his brothers in his youth, were the legacy of a long life and of a good and great man who, no matter how often he stumbled or the cause stalled, continued with a tenacity and a great belief that was the hallmark of every thing he did and of the man he was.
Today my thoughts and sympathy are with his wife Vicki his children Ted, Kara and Patrick and sister Jean Kennedy Smith.
May he rest in peace.