{"id":376011,"date":"2026-04-01T06:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376011\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:48:11","slug":"taoiseach-leads-tributes-after-death-of-former-fianna-fail-td-rory-ohanlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376011\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach leads tributes after death of former Fianna F\u00e1il TD Rory O\u2019Hanlon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has led tributes following the death of former Fianna F\u00e1il TD and Ceann Comhairle Rory O\u2019Hanlon.<\/p>\n

Dr O\u2019Hanlon, who was died at the age of 92, was a former GP who was first elected to the D\u00e1il in 1977.<\/p>\n

He served in a number of positions, including minister for health, minister for the environment and Ceann Comhairle (Dail speaker) before he retired in 2011.<\/p>\n

Dr O\u2019Hanlon is also the father of actor and comedian Ardal O\u2019Hanlon, best known for playing Dougal McGuire in Father Ted.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said: \u201cRory cared passionately for his community and constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe advocated for them. He sought to improve their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cRory was a natural public representative. He was in politics for all the right reasons: a real commitment to public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il leader said Dr O\u2019Hanlon had worked to ensure the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement after 1998.<\/p>\n

Rory was a very valued friend. I greatly valued his insights and advice, since I was first elected to Dail Eireann<\/p>\n

Micheal Martin<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIn this, he drew on his many personal and political relationships, north and south of the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a great love for the people of Armagh, where he grew up, and of Cavan and Monaghan.<\/p>\n

\u201cRory was a very valued friend. I greatly valued his insights and advice, since I was first elected to D\u00e1il Eireann.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a wise, astute observer of politics and public affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a wonderful sense of humour and was a great raconteur and a wonderful storyteller.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wore his many responsibilities lightly, always choosing to speak of those he served, rather than himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cRory has left a significant footprint on Irish public life and on the Fianna F\u00e1il party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SDLPSDLP leader Claire Hanna said Rory O\u2019Hanlon was a \u2018true friend\u2019 of her party (Mark Marlow\/PA)<\/p>\n

SDLP leader Claire Hanna said Dr O\u2019Hanlon had been a \u201ctrue friend\u201d of her party.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cHis life was one of dedicated public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe began his career as a family doctor and went on to serve for 34 years as TD for Cavan Monaghan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Linda<\/p>\n

Ireland<\/p>\n

Linda Ervine among President\u2019s appointments to Council of State<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe held a distinguished record as minister for health and as both Ceann Comhairle and Leas Ceann Comhairle in the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

\u201cRory was deeply committed to democratic values and peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a steadfast opponent of those who used violence for political purposes, and throughout his career he remained a close ally of Seamus Mallon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has led tributes following the death of former Fianna F\u00e1il TD and Ceann Comhairle Rory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-376011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}