TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to former Lord Mayor of Dublin and Fianna Fáil TD Ben Briscoe who has died aged 89.
Amid his 37-year long Dáil career, Briscoe was also featured one of the most dramatic election finishes in Irish history and has been noted as a strong voice for Ireland’s Jewish community.
Tánaiste Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Briscoe, who represented a number of southside Dublin constituencies, was a “champion” who was always focused on “securing support for those most in need” throughout his time in politics.
“At difficult moments, such as the introduction of new forms of drug treatment, he never wavered in support for essential services even when loud opposition was encountered,” Martin said.
He added that Briscoe was popular across all parties because of his “good humour and decency”, which would mean him insisting “that colleagues from other parties be included in debates”.
Martin added that while the party’s whip, Briscoe was a member of the Public Accounts Committee and also worked to build “a system of accountability for public spending and ensure decent conditions for those who work in our parliament”.
Briscoe’s career also featured one of the most dramatic election finishes in Irish history, when he narrowly missed out on a seat in Dublin South-Central in 1992.
In what was dubbed the “Ben and Eric Show”, Briscoe and Democratic Left’s Eric Byrne sat through what is believed to be the country’s longest ever recount.
After 13 counts, Byrne won the seat by 10 votes, but after 10 days of recounts, the result was overturned, leading the victorious Briscoe to famously describe the experience as “The Agony and the Ex-TD.”
Briscoe’s family came to Ireland with the arrival of his grandfather Abraham William Briscoe, a Lithuanian Jewish proprietor who set up a furniture factory on Ormond Quay.
Ben Briscoe’s father Bob Briscoe was a founder of Fianna Fáil, a member of Dáil Éireann for over three decades and also an office holder for Lord Mayor of Dublin.
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