The very large attendance at the Requiem Mass and funeral at Murloch were a measure of the high and, more importantly, the warm regard in which Paddy McGowan was held not only among his own in Donegal, but among his wide circle of friends in all parts in Ireland.
Donegal and the people of Donegal were always Paddy's first priority. In regard to Donegal, Paddy used to say: "I'll mind my patch like a shepherd minds his sheep." We are proud of that and grateful to him for it. But Senator Paddy McGowan was not only a distinguished representative of Donegal, he was also a national figure. Over his long years in Seanad Eireann he made a considerable contribution to the life and well-being of our nation.
The word patriot is not used so frequently nowadays. But in my definition, any man or woman who has worked tirelessly throughout long years of public life to make his country and his county a better place and to improve the lot of his or her fellow citizens is a patriot. Paddy McGowan was such a man.
He served on every county council committee over the years since 1960. He was on the agricultural committee and brought his personal experience to bear in helping those who make their living on the land. On the health board he worked with determination and often with what the authorities felt to be a discomforting persistence for better health services. On the VEC he saw education as the essential ingredient in forging prosperity for individuals and the community.
He had something of the fervour of a Sean Lemass in his pursuit of industry for Donegal. He played a major part in bringing the Herdsman linen factory to Ballybofey in the 1960s. His lifelong interest in linen sprang from the fact that his father was a scutch miller and that he himself was reared in a scutch mill at Knock, near Ballybofey. He advocated the revival of flax-growing in the North-West and hoped that the linen industry might one day be restored in the area.
Paddy McGowan was a committed proponent of cross-border co-operation. He always understood that combined effort in agriculture, industry and tourism could bring immense benefit to all communities in the North and North-West. Paddy was proud of the fact that while he always stood fast to his Republican views he shared a personal friendship with many unionists.
He was, of course, an influential figure in the Fianna F ail organisation both nationally and in Donegal and could always be relied on to galvanise support at election times. His friendly handshake was a trademark. He had an abiding affection for his children. On his way home you could count on him stopping outside some shop. "Wait a minute," he would say. "I have to get something for the weans."
We extend our sympathy to his wife, Rosemary, and to his family. Paddy McGowan was one of a kind. We shall not see his like again.
J.McD.