‘He took an interest in people, listened, and always wanted to help’: Bernard Allen remembered as a man who did ‘many good things’

ALL that we can take with us when we die is the good that we do in life, and Bernard Allen had a lot to take with him, his funeral Mass was told.

The former Fine Gael Minister of State for Sport and Youth Affairs, TD for Cork North Central, and Lord Mayor of Cork passed away on Saturday in Cork University Hospital, surrounded by his family.

First elected to the then Cork Corporation in 1979, Mr Allen followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Alderman Sammy Allen, and his grandfather Alderman James Allen.

In the 1981 general election, Mr Allen was elected to Dáil Éireann, and he retained his seat at every subsequent election until his retirement, after 30 years in the Dáil, in 2011.

In 1988, he served as Lord Mayor, and in 1994, taoiseach John Bruton appointed Mr Allen Minister of State for Sport and Youth Affairs. Between 2007 and 2011, Mr Allen served as chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

Mr Allen’s coffin was borne into Cork’s North Cathedral this morning and followed by his wife Marie, their daughters Lorraine, Audrey and Deirdre, family, friends, and a who’s-who of figures from local and national public and sporting life.

In a show of respect for the former Lord Mayor, behind the coffin were mace-bearers from Cork City Hall, followed by current Lord Mayor Dan Boyle, the deputy chief executive of Cork City Council, Brian Geaney, and current members of Cork City Council, many wearing their red and green robes of office.

Mr Allen’s funeral Mass was attended by the President’s aide de camp, Colonel Stephen Howard, Taoiseach Simon Harris, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, Ministers of State Colm Burke and Patrick O’Donovan, former tánaiste Simon Coveney, current and former TDs and ministers, former Lords Mayor, current and former members of Cork City Council, and numerous friends from across the city, county and country.

‘Politics was always left at the front door’

In her eulogy, Mr Allen’s daughter Lorraine said while her father had been a former Lord Mayor and a TD for over 30 years, to his family he was “a devoted husband and a treasured dad”.

“For such a public figure, he was a very private, family person. Politics was always left at the front door, and he loved being at home with my mum Marie, myself, Audrey and Deirdre,” she said.

He loved spending quality time with his children, and later his grandchildren, and it was in talking to his constituents that his children came to appreciate the effect he had had upon so many people’s lives.

“He took an interest in people, listened, and always wanted to help in whatever way he could. Hearing that gratitude made us realise what a special person he was outside of the special dad we already knew we had.

“He was a truly genuine person that wanted to make a difference and we were so very proud of him.” 

The chief celebrant was Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA, a retired bishop and friend of the Allen family, who said that there was not a single sporting association on the northside which had not benefitted Mr Allen’s generosity and support.

On behalf of Mr Allen’s family, Bishop O’Regan thanked the ambulance staff who had brought him initially to Bantry Hospital when he had become seriously ill five weeks ago, and then onto Cork University Hospital, where, he said, thanks to all there, Mr Allen’s wife and their family had the chance to spend his final weeks with him.

Mr Allen was a man of great loyalty and a true sportsman all of his life, Bishop O’Regan said.

“Bernard grew up in a part of the city where you were just as likely to meet a boy with a bowl in his hand as a sliotar, and Bernard was true to that all his life,” he said, recalling “the famous clash between the Dáil and the diocese, between Bernard and the bishop”, when Mr Allen and then bishop John Buckley had gone road bowling.

“One day, they arranged a score, somewhere out on the road between Cork and Blarney, going towards Killeens, and they had a score there.

“Well, I don’t know how they managed, but it was a dead heat. I never heard before of a score ending in a dead heat, but that day it did.

“That was typically Bernard, loyal always to his own people,” he said.

“When our time to go comes, we have to leave everything behind us. All that we can take is the good that we have done in life, and Bernard had done many good things. He has a lot to take with him, many things that we remember, but what is more important, things that are remembered by God,” he said.

Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr Fintan Gavin, was in attendance and the Mass was co-celebrated by Fr Christy Fitzgerald, Fr Cian O’Sullivan and Fr John O’Donovan, while the final prayers were delivered by Mr Allen’s bowling partner, Bishop Emeritus John Buckley.

Mr Allen’s funeral cortege made its way from the cathedral to St Finbarr’s Cemetery, pausing en route outside City Hall.