‘John Bruton changed Ireland for the better’ – former taoiseach remembered as man of ideas, courage and integrity at state funeral

Crowds had started to gather at St Peter and Paul’s Church in Dunboyne in the hours before the 11am funeral mass.

They stood in mournful silence with Mr Bruton’s wife Finola, son Matthew, daughters; Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth, brother Richard, sister Mary and his grandchildren.

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny said he came to remember a friend. The pair spent three decades working side-by-side in Dáil Éireann.

“He had the greatest and deepest respect for his office,” Mr Kenny said.

“He had a restless mind, always wanted to try new concepts and made decisions about new issues in a changing Ireland, and he was very conscious of that.

“He was a friend of mine for 50 years and I feel that deeply. But for Finola and his family it is the passing of an era, a dad and husband. A friend of Dunboyne, proud to represent the royal county and especially proud of his participation at a European level.”

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who succeeded Mr Bruton to take that office, said it was a sad day. He remembered attending House of Commons debates on Brexit with Mr Bruton in recent years.

“He was a good guy, a decent person and a good politician who worked extremely hard and served the country well,” Mr Ahern added. Another former taoiseach, Brian Cowen was also in attendance.

Among the congregation were President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and others who served with Mr Bruton, including Michael Noonan and Ivan Yates, who he respectively appointed to the Health and Agriculture portfolios in 1994.

There were past and present members of the Fine Gael Parliamentary party, including Ministers Helen McEntee, Simon Harris, Paschal Donohoe, Simon Coveney and Hildegarde Naughton, TDs Damien English, Michael Ring, Paul Kehoe, and Charlie Flanagan, MEP Maria Walsh, European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and former EU commissioner Phil Hogan.

Alan Dukes, who was succeeded as Fine Gael leader by Mr Bruton, was among other party grandees.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill arrived with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Ms O’Neill and deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly spoke briefly with members of the Irish Government before the service got under way.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik and the party’s former leaders, Joan Burton and Pat Rabbitte also paid their respects.

Members of the diplomatic corps included British Ambassador Paul Johnston. Among the seasoned journalists in attendance were Vincent Browne and Eoghan Harris.

Others came knowing the gathering would be too large for everyone to congregate in the church’s nave but were happy to remain outside intent they would get to pay final respects to a man who served their community as a Meath TD for 35 years, three of them as taoiseach. He was leader of Fine Gael for more than a decade, and later went on to serve as EU’s Ambassador to the US.

Big screens, speakers and seating was set up outside for those who had come to say farewell.

Inside the church there was a warm embrace for Mr Bruton’s brother Richard, a sitting Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay North, from Mr Varadkar as he, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan offered condolences to the Bruton family on behalf of the Government before the requiem funeral mass.

Chief celebrant Fr Pat O’Connor said the service would be one of “sadness and thanksgiving” before Mr Bruton’s grandchildren Oliver and Robin brought gifts to the altar.

The brothers carried family photographs to represent how those close to him were at the centre of their grandfather’s life. They also brought a copy of Mr Bruton’s book Faith in Politics to symbolise his lengthy career and political passion.

The congregation heard Mr Bruton had a great and thoughtful religious faith. Fr O’Connor said he had been a frequent visitor to this church.

In his homily, Fr Bruce Bradley also reflected on Mr Bruton’s faith, and how the tributes paid to him in recent days were “unanimously warm”.

“Courage, integrity, decency — the words recur again and again,” Fr O’Connor added.

“He understood better than most how to work for compromise in the midst of political tensions. He was in no sense a bigot. He understood the obligations of office in a pluralist democracy, as he showed in supporting the divorce referendum.

“In all his interactions, with those who shared his outlook as well as with those who did not, he showed a capacity to stand in the other person’s shoes, a quality of particular importance in the discussions and negotiations with Northern unionists as well as in the very successful management of the Rainbow Coalition when he was taoiseach.”

Irish president Michael D Higgins arrives in Dunboyne for state funeral of former Taoiseach John Bruton

Prayers of the faithful were read by Richard Bruton and his sister Mary, Caroline Gill, David Clarke, John Bruton’s close friend Matthew Dempsey, former attorney general Dermot Gleeson and Mary Coogan.

Richard Bruton prayed for his brother, Mary Bruton prayed for thanksgiving while other prayers were offered for the Bruton family and healthcare professionals at the Mater Hospital who assisted Mr Bruton through illness.

Mr Bruton’s daughter Emily read Henry Scott Holland’s poem Death is Nothing at All as the reflection after communion.

Outside, 180 military personnel played a role in the state funeral.

Mr Bruton’s coffin was then carried by gun carriage and 50 uniformed pall bearers from St Peter and Paul’s church to Rooske Cemetery for burial.

There, at 2.20pm, John Bruton made his final journey through Meath’s countryside and across the graveyard. Dogs at a nearby farmyard who had been barking for much of the afternoon were hushed before pall bearers removed the Tricolour from the coffin and presented it to Mr Bruton’s wife. A graveside oration was given by Mr Varadkar.

He remembered the first phone call he received from Mr Bruton in 1999 before running in his first election and how “it meant even more when he called a second time after he heard I hadn’t been elected, encouraging me to stay involved and to stay the course”.

The Taoiseach remembered Mr Bruton as an inspirational man of hope and faith.

“John loved Meath. He was grounded in the land around us. He understood farmers — small and large — and cared deeply about the future of rural Ireland.

“He loved politics and believed it was the best way to achieve real and lasting change for the good. His core principle was that every person counts and he put that into action in every single role and office he held.

“John was a man of ideas, and his greatest idea was that we could arrest our decline, and become a prosperous, successful country. His drive and optimism helped make that vision a reality.

“John Bruton did so much more than simply give an account of himself.

“He changed Ireland and he changed it considerably for the better. He changed us for the better too.”

John Bruton was born in Dublin in May 1947 into a family of prosperous farmers. He attended Clongowes Wood College in Co Kildare as a boarder before going on to study at University College Dublin. He graduated with a BA in Arts and later qualified as a barrister after studying at the King’s Inns but Mr Bruton never practised at the bar.

His passion was for politics.

His family were Fine Gael supporters and Mr Bruton won a nomination for the party in 1969. He was elected to the Dáil to represent Meath, ousting Denis Farrelly, the sitting Fine Gael TD in the process. Mr Bruton was 22 years old and was the youngest TD at the time. He was re-elected another 10 times. He became Fine Gael leader in 1990, a role he held for 11 years.

In December 1994 Mr Bruton achieved another unique distinction, becoming the only person to succeed to the Taoiseach’s office because of a change in government without an election when he persuaded Labour to end its coalition with Fianna Fáil and form a new coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left — the Rainbow government.

Fine Gael gained nine seats at the next election but heavy Labour losses left Mr Bruton short of support for a new coalition. He returned to Opposition. He resigned his Dáíl seat in October 2004 before becoming the EU Ambassador to the US, a post he held for five years.

He died aged 76 last Tuesday, at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, following a long illness.