'A gentleman, always': Tributes flood in for former Waterford TD Brian O’Shea
The late Brian O'Shea
On January 28, Brian O’Shea, one of Waterford’s longest-standing and most influential politicians, passed away in the company of his family at Killure Bridge Nursing Home.
Tributes have flooded in commemorating the Labour stalwart.
“Brian O'Shea was a gentleman, always,” Mayor of Waterford City and Council Seamus Ryan said to the News & Star, paying tribute. “Brian O’Shea was one of the reasons that I joined the Labour Party.”
O’Shea’s political career in Dáil Éireann spanned over four decades from 1989-2011, holding the office of Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health in the 1990s.
He served as the chairperson of the Labour Party from 2007-2012.
Party leader Ivana Bacik remembered O’Shea as “a thoughtful, considered and respected politician, inspired by public service and committed to politics as a noble profession”.
A son of Tramore, O’Shea was educated at Mount Sion CBS, before studying at St. Patrick’s University in Dublin.
He first worked as a teacher while flirting with trade unionism and socialist movements.
His first foray into local politics came in 1979, when he was successfully elected to Tramore Town Council.
His tenacity as a politician was evident, climbing up to Waterford Corporation and Waterford County Council in 1985.
The transition to Leinster House came two years later, when he was selected to serve in the Seanad on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.
O’Shea had run for Dáil Éireann that same year, failing to make the quota as he took home 7.5% of the first preference vote.
Archive material from 1987 showed O’Shea championing working-class causes: Focusing on job creation, taxation reform, the legalisation of local radio and ensuring the development of Waterford Airport.
An RTÉ Archives video from 1988 shows O’Shea fighting for the Airport’s cause, and one wonders what he would make of current developments.
Dr Emmett O’Connor, a researcher on Irish Labour movements at Ulster University, said the ‘70s and ‘80s were “lean times” for Labour in Waterford. O’Shea’s dedication to the party and constituents helped weather against electoral annihilation.
“Labour did badly in the ‘77 elections, and they went into opposition, and there was growing support for the Workers Party in Waterford,” Dr O’Connor said.
“It looked as if the Labour Party was on the way out. Brian is one of those that held the thing together and kept it going through difficult times.
“He had that resilience and determination. It wasn't an overnight success. He kind of gradually built up support and popularity.
“People came to appreciate him for what he was, he was a pretty genuine guy.”
O’Shea’s ambitions to serve in the Dáil were ultimately realised in 1989, when a general election was called after Charles Haughey’s scandal-ridden government was dissolved.
This time, there were no near misses. He more than doubled his result from two years prior, collecting 16.4% of first preferences.
For the ensuing 22 years, O’Shea found himself in and out of Government, with his highest levels of influence recorded in government with Fianna Fáil and the ‘Rainbow Coalition’.
Those who knew him best describe O’Shea’s supreme ability to build relationships and genuine understanding of on-the-ground issues.
“Brian had a great way of dealing with people, of receiving people,” Mayor Ryan recalled.
“He made himself available to the people of Waterford. This was at a time when there wasn’t really social media.
“He used to go all around the county every weekend. This was every weekend without fail.
“Brian would go to Tallow, Dungarvan and other parts of the county, and Brian would do advice centres there.
“That's why he was always in touch. He always knew what the issues, the local issues, were, because he made himself available to the public right throughout the county.”
Former mayor of Waterford, Labour Cllr. John Pratt reaffirmed O’Shea’s quality as a canvasser and a soundboard for his constituents.
“The one thing I found about Brian O'Shea was that he took on stuff that genuinely other TDs would kind of shy away from,” Cllr. Pratt said.
“He wasn't afraid to take on the heretical issues and work his backside off to get a result if it was possible.”
One of his biggest triumphs was in providing Waterford with radiotherapy, a lifelong political ambition.
Years of parliamentary questions, Dáil debates and protests saw radiotherapy become accessible to the Waterford public in UPMC Whitfield in 2007.
Another tenet of his campaigning was in delivering University status in Waterford, a project he saw cross the line in 2022 through the creation of SETU.
O’Shea, of Sweetbriar Lawn, Tramore, and formerly of Slievekeale Road, Waterford city, passed away at 81 years of age.
His Funeral Mass takes place at the Holy Cross Church, Tramore, tomorrow (Saturday, January 31), with burial afterwards to St. Declan’s Cemetery, Riverstown.
Predeceased by his parents John and Nancy and sister Christine, he is survived by his wife Eileen, sons John and Paddy, daughters Christine, Anne, Siobhán and Mary, their spouses and partners Brian, Tony, Tadhg, Caroline and Claire, his grandchildren Matthew, Nancy, Tom, Sarah, Laura, Liam, Páidí, Meadhbh, Ailbhe, Remy, Estelle and Sophie, brother Seán, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends.
May he Rest in Peace.
