“I thought not only of the historic occasions shared by previous leaders, however. I also carried in my heart the story of a man called James McGinley. He was a lighthouse keeper on the Atlantic west coast of Ireland. Cross the Atlantic, and he was the first and last Irishman, the first and last European. Whatever the weather, he had to keep the light burning. People depended on him for their lives. James McGinley was my grandfather.”
Enda Kenny, Capitol Hill, March 17, 2011
“But I leave you for now with thoughts of one man who kept his contract, kept his word. His name was James McGinley. He was a lighthouse keeper on our Atlantic west coast. Just a lighthouse keeper. Not famous, not rich, but crucially important. Cross the Atlantic, and he was the first, and last Irishman, the first and last European. In his ordinary life, with his ordinary family, in his ordered lighthouse, he didn’t just keep the light, he kept his contract,. that was his job. Whatever the weather he had to…it was up to him… people depended on him for their lives. You see, James McGinley was my grandfather. “
Enda Kenny, Fine Gael Ard Fheis, March 31, 2007