Sad news. Condolences to the family.

You don’t have to agree with a man’s policies to believe in his decency.

RIP. Sad news. He fought hard during his illness and worked the whole way through it. Brave man to do this. Others may have taken time out of their job to focus on getting well, but he put Ireland first. We may not have agreed with his actions in the last government, but he seemed to be a decent man. Condolonces to his family.

RIP

Folks, thank you for all your comments.

As you will see I have deleted some of them purely on the basis that on this sad day for his family and friends and irrespective of your view of him politically, it’s important not to spend too much time debating the wrongs and rights of his actions in government.

Let those who know him and admired him mourn his loss and let history determine his legacy but not, I would suggest, on this day of all days.

I would urge you to please refrain from any personal abuse or anything that is prohibited as in accordance with our comments policy.

Thanks again,

Hugh

Very sad to hear after fighting cancer for so long. RIP

Terribly sad news. He battled bravely. Condolences to his family.

How are the sad bastards downvoting people giving their condolences on the death of a human being.

You may not have agreed with the man but he was a human being and one that had a family who are now greaving.

I hope people show more compassion when you die than you are willing to show today.

So sorry to hear the news about Brian Lenihan R.I.P. He was a thoroughly decent man and highly respected no matter what political side people were on. Despite all the woes in Fianna Fail he fought on with great courage and determination and for that alone I salut him. Thinking of his family.

What a brave man, RIP condolences to his family

very sad news RIP

Very sad news :(

Brian Lenihan was dropped into a financial mess created by Bertie Aherne. The mistakes he made were due to lies and misdirection from bankers and senior civil servants. The man fought bravely through a terrible illness, not for his own benefit but in an attempt to do the right thing. Keep your vitriol for those who deserve it. Brian Lenihan could have stepped down at the last election and received a huge amount of money like the rest of the true cronies in FF. He chose to stay on and serve this country. I have no love for his party but I respect this man. Many sympathies to his family for what they have been through in the last few years. RIP.

I’m deliberately forgetting that he was a Fianna Fail member, I’m deliberately putting aside my opinion of his actions whilst in government and I’m purposefully respecting a man who fought a serious illness and rather than throw in the towel and stay out of the workplace, got up every day and faced it.

Today is a day to put politics aside and recognise that if he were anyone other than a former government member then we would have no issue paying our respects: for that reason I’m ignoring his position and acknowledging the man who fought bravely.

I lost a family member 8 years ago today to cancer so I understand the grief, May Brian rest in peace and may our thoughts be with his family.

He was somebody’s son, somebody’s husband, somebody’s brother and somebody’s father. You have all the time in the world to say what you want about him, for the time being stop being a bunch of animals and let his family and friends grieve in peace, without ahving to read some of these illogical and mostly purely offensive comments.

My sincerest condolences. My thoughts are with his family.

God rest his soul and my condolences to all of his family.

There is a time and a place though, JimBob. Regardless of what he did while in power, he was still a human being. I don’t know about you but i was brought up to believe if you have nothing nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. What if he was a family member of yours? Would you like it if someone was showing disrespect to them??

Show a bit of respect please Jim! The man was very badly advised, that wasn’t his fault. He found out 18 monhts ago that he had one of the most deadliest forms of cancer, yet he continued to work as hard as ever to try and get this government back on its feet. The austere measures he introduced may have made life more difficult for lots of people, but they were the necessary decisions.

He put the country before himself, his health and, now as we have found out, his life, it’s been almost a 100 years since we’ve seen that. That’s how I’ll remember him.

RIP

Condolences to the Lenihan family. A man who persevered through challenging times despite intense pressure and illness. A trait we should all aspire to have.

A very sad day for Ireland.A remarkable example of an absolute fighter in every way. My sincere condolences to his family

RIP :(

Awh sad news, he seemed like a real nice man :(

Can I direct you all to our comments policy and remind you of its terms before making comments – http://www.thejournal.ie/comments-policy/

Many thanks,

Hugh

RIP Brian Lenihan. A very dignified man who did his best for our country while holding power in Government. Sadly missed

that’s such sad news! he fought bravely, hope he rests in peace.

RIP

Farewell to Brian Lenihan, a really great Minister for Children, May he Rest in Peace, Jillian

Very sad news, My prayers are with his family and friends. May he Rest in Peace

RIP

Very sad news RIP

Sad to hear that..

Anytime I’ve posted comments about Cowen & Lenihan, I have been incredibly negative in my appraisal of their time in office and of the legacy they’ve left behind.

But remember, we are critical of Brian Lenihan’s political abilities, not of who he was personally, as I doubt any of us knew here the man.

Also, let’s admit it, he stepped up to serve his country in the political arena (for better or worse) when most of us who snipe from the sidelines wouldn’t have the guts to do likewise.

So let’s save our bile for another day, and mark his passing with respect, if not for the man or the family he leaves behind to mourn him, then for ourselves by demonstrating that we can rise above such cowardly pettiness.

Condolences to his family. Like his father he was burdened with a terrible illness. I find it unsettling that his wikipedia page has already been updated.

A sad day for Ireland, regardless of what people think of the previous government , Brian Lenihan was a good honest honorable man who worked hard for this country and dealt with every situation with “the good of the country in mind”

May he rest in peace

Very sad news. How sad that a man of such high intellect and possessing many other admirable qualities will be remembered as the politician who signed the death warrant of the Irish Economy and our Sovereignty on that fateful night in September 2008. He deserved better.R.I.P.

“He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend – provided, of course, that he really is dead.” Voltaire;

Didn agree with most of what he did, but a very brave man out of his depth. But shows that FG/LB are the exact same hypocrites RIP…

RIP, so sad for his wife, children, mother, brothers, sister – seemed a nice man.

R.I.P Brian. :-(

you shouldnt speak ill of the dead jimbob hillbill.he was a son,a husband,a father,a brother,an uncle and so on.have some respect.i can tell your only young by your comments.wait till it lands on your doorstep,i hope people wont say things you have said.we are talking about him as all the above,not his political life.all his family have gone through hell the last few years because of his illness and let me tell you i watched my mother die of cancer,its horrible.believe me jimbob hillbill you wouldnt leave an animal die like this . may he rest in peace

I’m saddened at the death of any human but listening to Pat Kenny you’d think it was Eamon DeValera who died. The man was at the helm during, and oversaw, the utter ruin of this country. Sympathy to his family and friends is appropriate but not the high accolades for his political career that are already in the media.

A woman has lost her husband and 2 kids have lost their dad. Don’t understand the nasty comments. Some people just have no decency or manners. There’s a time and a place and this isn’t it. RIP.

You can assure nothing!

This is a day for expressing sympathy and empathy with the Linehan family.

The old adage “if you can’t say something nice” etc.

Talk of the Linehan legacy, and there will be plenty of that, is probably not best dipped into on the day of the mans passing. That is merely common courtesy.

That said, I for one don’t intend to leave today’s constant procession of FF stooges, failed and corrupt political entities, and assorted hangers on, beat their chests anda tear their clothes in the usual hypocritical fashion.

If that goes against site policy, then so be it, but editorial policy aside, it would be on a hiding to nothing to airbrush contrary opinions out of the responses here, once they adhere to common decency, and the usual rules of decorum.

Rest In Peace Brian.
He was the only good thing about Fianna Fáil.
What a bloke and a great country man.
I knew he had cancer but I thought he was better and I
was shocked when I seen it in the papers.
Sad day for Ireland but we can now celebrate his life.
R.I.P

I don’t normally speak ill of the dead, but he was the one who bought the banks with tax payer money.

The bankers who are still reaping millions of Euro in bonuses will be at his funeral, and will mourn the loss of the man who rewarded them for bringing this country to its knees with their own greed.

Now it’s quite obvious that the current government are no better. The bankers are still being paid ridiculous amounts of money for gambling and losing, but Mr. Lenihan made a conscious decision to buy out worthless banks and allowed the heads of these banks be rewarded with massive pensions.

Don’t get me wrong. I do feel for his family. I know what it’s like to lose a parent or two.
I really do feel for them.
However, I’m not going to pretend that he was someone who did this country good. He wasn’t.

Mr. O’Connell, you have a page her with his obituary. I’m sure people can pay their respects there.
This is news.
This site allows people to give their opinion on news.
My opinion is that his death, while tragic for his family, and I really do mean that, means that he can never use tax payer money to fund over-paid gamblers ever again.

If you do a search on Twitter or hop over to politics.ie you’ll see some furious comments about Mr. Lenihan. I agree that certain types of comments need to be moderated but at the same time The Journal and other media need to recognise the sense of outrage people feel at the dramatic and immediate attempt to whitewash Lenihan’s career. He failed us. He failed the children when he was their minister and he failed the nation as finance minister and this ridiculous ‘tradition’ of not speaking ill of the dead (which is totally arbitrary) needs to be knocked on the head.

I got the same response when i posted a similar opinion on Facebook. Jimbob, you are not wrong, but perhaps ill timed. My only regret regarding my posts is not to have waited until tomorrow to voice them. I too am angered by the legacy of the previous government, one and all, and as the author states, history will be the judge.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

The Greeks, as poor and troubled as they are now, had some clever people back in ancient times.

Brian wasn’t much of a gardener, it sadly seems.

Respect is earned, the simple act of dying does not earn respect. People should be judged for their actions in life when they die. And in my opinion Mr. Lenihan is not deserving of my respect. This is my opinion and I am entitled to it. If you don’t like it then its your problem.

Why was my comment removed? This man has done huge damage to Ireland, that we will lucky to ever recover from.

This is the typical Irish attitude of never speak ill of the dead.

My comment about Brian lenihan was removed don’t know what ever happened to freedom of speech, if you don’t like someone elses point of view
I thought the red thumbs down button was for that, deleting the journal app off my phone now, useless