Bacik leads tributes to ‘mentor’ Emmet Stagg
LABOUR leader Ivana Bacik paid a warm tribute to former Labour TD, Whip and Minister of State Emmet Stagg, who died yesterday.
The 79-year-old served as a Labour TD for North Kildare for 29 years, from 1987 to 2016, and came close to replacing Dick Spring as Labour leader prior to the ‘Spring tide’.
Ms Bacik said Mr Stagg had ‘followed in the proud Labour tradition of William Norton’ in Kildare. She added: ‘Throughout his time in Labour politics, he played a central role in the party and in the internal debates within it.
‘During the 1980s, as a significant voice on the left of the party, he articulated positions often in confrontation with the leadership.
‘He was also a great mentor to me when I first joined the party as a student in the late 1980s and was always very supportive of Labour Youth.
She added: ‘Canvassing in Kildare with Emmet was a really positive experience. He was hugely popular and consistently championed the needs of those facing inequality and disadvantage.’
President Michael D Higgins, a fellow former Labour Party TD, said: ‘Emmet Stagg will be remembered by all those with whom he served in Leinster House for his generosity and kindness towards all of his colleagues, and indeed for his respect for people in all parties. Emmet embodied the spirit of the Labour Party in its best sense. This was delivered in his weekly and daily service to his constituents, where he was one of the most hard-working TDs that I can remember in my time in Dáil Éireann.’
Ms Bacik noted that after Dick Spring saw off the Stagg challenge, ‘Emmet’s differences with the leadership were reconciled in the 1990s and he went on to serve as Minister of State for the Environment and later as Minister of State for Transport, Energy and Communications from 1994 to 1997.
‘Emmet was a pillar of Labour politics, both in Leinster House and in Kildare, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He was kind and considerate and maintained a keen interest in Labour politics even after leaving the Dáil.
‘He also had a keen interest in gardening and fishing and regaled us all over the years with many stories.’
‘He was a pillar of Labour politics’