'If he couldn't give 110% then it wasn't worth doing': Son pays tribute to John Mullins
Tánaiste Simon Harris with TD Jerry Buttimer and Cllr Jack White at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Dennehy’s Cross, Cork, for the Liturgy of the Word for the late John Mullins. Pictures: Dan Linehan
The son of John Mullins moved an entire congregation to tears with his moving eulogy in which he described his father’s “larger than life nature” and “unending ambition".
Tánaiste Simon Harris and Taoiseach Micheál Martin were among the many who turned out to pay their respects to the former chief executive of Bord Gáis, and group chairman of clean energy firm Amarenco Solar during his Liturgy of the Word at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Dennehy’s Cross. The event preceded his funeral at the Island Crematorium, Rocky Island, Ringaskiddy.
Mr Mullins was a Fine Gael candidate in Ireland South in last June’s European parliamentary elections, polling 33,281 first preferences.
The Cork native was an engineering graduate who served as the president of Cork Chamber between 2011 and 2013. The 57-year-old is also remembered fondly for his tenure as chairman of the Port of Cork board between 2013 and 2018.
At the Liturgy of the Word, presided over by Bishop Emeritus of Cork and Ross Dr John Buckley, and concelebrated by Fr Tom Clancy and Fr Donal Cotter PP, John’s son Michael said: “I’ve been given the unenviable task of having to fit the life of John Mullins into a 10-minute eulogy. He was a larger-than-life character. That description gets used a lot for my dad. It was true enough. One of his absolute phrases was ‘Life is not a dress rehearsal’ and he always had that at the forefront of his mind.”
He made reference to his caring nature adding: "In the last few days, I’ve heard some amazing stories that reflected his unending ambition, his compassion for others, and his ability to light up every room he walked into.
"My dad put an awful lot into the 57 years of life, making enormous contributions across business, sport, politics, and civic life. However, it all started on Fort St in Cork city in 1968. From an early age, Dad’s values and approach to life were shaped in large part by his parents, Pat and Maureen. They were hugely determined to ensure that Dad, and his brothers, Jim, Pat, Kieran and Brian, had the best possible education, and worked extremely hard to enable that.
"The influence of his parents was complimented greatly by his education at the North Monastery. It was there that he learned to combine confidence with humility, and to be able to engage with people of all backgrounds with respect."
Michael described his dad as very hard-working.
“Even in his younger years, dad had a strong work ethic. If he couldn’t give 110% then it wasn’t worth doing, whether it was hurling, football, basketball or even singing for the school choir for Pope John Paul II in Rome — he gave it everything.
"He excelled academically, earning a full scholarship in UCC. During his time there, he received graduate of the year, [taking part in numerous societies]. He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and joined the ESB, a job my nan was delighted with, as it was, she said, 'a good, pensionable civil service role that’ll set you up now for life’."
Mr Mullins' daughter Sarah spoke about the significance behind the offertory gifts. She fought back tears saying "there are not enough symbols to represent my dad".
One of the gifts she described as her father’s “trusted companion and his personal assistant" - his iPhone.
“It represents many things but mainly his connectivity to my nana, granddad, and mum,” she told the congregation.
Sarah also joked about her dad’s love of all things Cork.
“My dad’s one regret was me and Michael’s posh South Dublin accents.”
She reminisced about her father’s strong love for GAA which was symbolised with Castlemartyr GAA club jerseys sponsored by his company. His love for socialising was represented with a bottle of red wine aptly labelled “Big John.” “My dad loved socialising,” Sarah said. “He was a great conversationalist.”
Speaking after the Liturgy of the Word, Tánaiste Simon Harris added:
“He was a larger than life character, Mr Harris said.
“Like everyone else I am in absolute shock. John was so full of positivity, so full of joy. He loved meeting people. The fascinating thing about John is everybody, apart from his immediate family, knew one part of him. This is because he was involved in so many different things including Age Friendly Cork, the Port of Cork and the business world he was involved in. From a Fine Gael point of view I’d like to acknowledge the massive contribution he made to our party both locally in Cork as a trustee and also as a European election candidate. We are all going to miss him so much. His children did him so proud today, as did his family. It’s such a difficult thing to ever have to do. I am thinking of them all on this difficult day.”
The service featured musical tributes from John’s brother Jim Mullins and Sarah Barry.
A guard of honour comprising pupils from the North Monastery Primary School made for tearful scenes as family members shouldered the coffin.
Cork’s Lord Mayor Councillor Dan Boyle paid tribute to Mr Mullins following the Liturgy of the Word.
“We came across each other in public life,” he told the Irish Examiner.
“He was someone who represented Ireland as well as Cork city. He had very prominent roles both in Bord Gais as its Chief Executive, as chair of the Port of Cork but it’s the things that he involved himself in in terms of greater civic duty that he will really remembered for. For instance, recently we had an event at City Hall where he has been an age friendly ambassador and he was helping set up a project where unused renewable energy could be directed towards older people for heating water tanks and I think that’s how I remember John. He was someone who wanted to bring about a better Cork and a better Ireland and was looking at ways that he as an individual could achieve that.”
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