Former Cork lord mayor and TD Dan Wallace remembered as a 'true public servant'

Dan Wallace was a proud Corkman who was defined by a deep working-class republicanism, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told Mr Wallace’s funeral Mass at a packed Church of the Resurrection, Farranree this morning.

Mr Wallace was brought to the church, where he had once served as sacristan, in a coffin draped with the flag of the Lord Mayor of Cork, an office he held from 1985 to 1986. It was followed by council mace-bearers and a procession of robed councillors.

Among those in attendance were Commandant Brain Walsh, aide de camp to President Higgins; Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Dan Boyle; County Cork Mayor, councillor Joe Carroll; former and current ministers, TDs, lords mayor and councillors; senators and MEPs, Cork City Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan and members of the northside community he had served faithfully for so many years.

Mr Wallace was first elected to the then Cork Corporation in 1979, and before the funeral the cortege had stopped outside City Hall, bringing the former Fianna Fáil politician one last time to his first political home.

Elected to Dáil Éireann for Cork North Central in the November 1982 general election, Mr Wallace topped the poll, and was re-elected to Dáil Éireann in every subsequent election until he retired in 2007, serving almost 25 years in Leinster House.

He was twice Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, from 1992 to 1993, and from 1997 to 2002.

In a moving eulogy, Mr Wallace’s son Damian, who also served as lord mayor, from 1999 to 2000, said there were really only three things that mattered to Dan Wallace - his faith, his family and public service.

His father and his mother Ethel, were blessed with strong faith, he said, and they had passed those values on to their children. Mr Wallace had known from an early age the importance of family, going to work at the age of 13 when his father died.

“In a roundabout way it also shaped his belief in public service and it fostered a sense of service to others that ultimately led him to a career in politics,” Damian said.

Never forgot his roots

He said that throughout that political career his father “never forgot his roots and was immensely proud of the fact that he came from Farranree. He was from the northside and of the northside.”

Passionate about education and community, Mr Wallace was tireless in his advocacy, his son said.

“Albert Reynolds once described him as being like a terrier: when he got hold of you, he wouldn’t let go until he got what he wanted, and that was always something for others.”

The funeral Mass was concelebrated by Fr Noel O’Sullivan, Fr Seán O’Sullivan, Fr John O’Donoghue, Canon Murphy O’Conor, Fr Bertie O’Mahony, Fr Charlie Nyhan, and Bishop Emeritus John Buckley.

His voice sometimes breaking with emotion, Taoiseach Micheál Martin delivered an oration in which he remembered “a good man, a decent man, a true public servant, a loyal friend, a dedicated family man, a man loyal to his community and Cork to his very fingertips”.

Lessons

The Fianna Fáil leader said he had served his own political apprenticeship knocking on doors for Mr Wallace, and he never forgot the basic political lessons he had learned.

“Every door was to be knocked. Everyone was to be listened to respectfully. And if there was a query it was to be answered immediately.

“Physically it was relentless, but it was wonderful to see how Danny connected with people. They saw him as one of their own who would serve them well.”

Dan Wallace had left the people of Cork after a life of service, Mr Martin said. “He gave his all to serve his community and his country.

“He measured success not in terms of positions held, but in how much he had been able to achieve for the people who paid him the honour of electing him to public office,” he said. “He was not changed by holding office, he remained the man he had always been. A son of Farranree. A Corkman, a republican, a servant of the people.”