My close relationship with nephew Brian

Following the 2007 general election, I was chair of the all-party committee on devising the wording for the constitutional referendum on children.

During that period, when my nephew Brian Lenihan was minister for children, his office as minister was next door to my office as leader of the Seanad. For me it marked a strengthening of the friendship between us.

He would come in very often to my office, knock on the door and say to Eamon McCormack a young civil servant working in the office at the time: “Is the leader of the Seanad at home in her office today?” and I would shout out, “Come in, come in.” We would sit down and we would gossip about politics, gossip about family and talk about anything going on in Ireland or indeed in the world. During the period Brian was minister for children, Michael McDowell was minister for justice. Part of Brian’s portfolio encompassed justice and education. It was during this time as well that there was European money for the setting up of childcare facilities in Ireland. One of Brian’s duties under this heading was to go around the country to interview people who had made application to set up a childcare facility and then to make a report on each application. Many of the applicants spoke to him of his late father.

During the same period, many of the scandals involving the Catholic Church came to light. Brian would have many deputations coming to him each day to discuss pending legislation. I would often pass them as they came in and out of the short corridor on which both our offices were situated. Brian took those duties very seriously. Because of his political and in particular because of his legal background, he found he was able to be of help and advise on many occasions. The minister for children’s position was that of a junior minister but he had a seat at cabinet and in that role his advice was often sought.

As leader of the Seanad I would ask him on any occasion when he had legislation that he would bring it to the Seanad first before he would bring it to the Dáil. He was always most willing to do so. We had many worthwhile discursive and enjoyable sessions of legislation-making with Brian in the minister’s chair in the Seanad.

He took his duties as minister for children very seriously. Once the office of the Ombudsman for Children was set up, he always followed with great attention the developments on which they were embarked and the lines of activity they hoped to pursue. When Brian was serving as minister for children he had a young family himself, which helped him in his ideas in that ministry.

When I came back into Dáil Éireann after the 2007 election, Bertie Ahern appointed Brian Lenihan as minister for justice – a position he was very excited to receive, particularly as his own father had also been minister for justice and he felt he was following in his footsteps in that role.

During that year until 2008 he attended frequently at the meetings of our all-party committee for the wording of the Constitution on the role of children. We always listened to him, valued his advice but sometimes, of course, went our own way.

On a few occasions, Brian would privately chide me gently and say we were pursuing on our committee a very radical path of wording. However we always valued his advice. Then of course in May 2008 he was appointed minister for finance. He started on his new work and we continued on our path of consensus in finding the wording.