The former Labour TD for Cork East, Joe Sherlock, has died. He was 71.
Mr Sherlock, who would have turned 72 later this month, retired from the Dáil at the last election and was succeeded in the seat by his son Seán.
He was first elected to the Dáil in 1981 for Sinn Féin/The Workers' Party and was re-elected in February 1982, but lost his seat in November 1982.
He was re-elected in 1987 for The Workers' Party, but lost his seat as a Democratic Left candidate in 1992.
He was a Senator from 1993 to 1997 and returned to the Dáil in 2002, this time for the Labour Party.
A former Sugar Company employee, he was elected to Mallow Urban District Counil in 1967 and to Cork County Council in 1974.
Labour leader Éamon Gilmore said Mr Sherlock's entire life had been driven by a sense of public duty from the trade union movement to Leinster House.
He described him as a warm friend and a wonderful colleague whose death will be greatly felt both in the Labour party and among the people of Mallow.
