Expressions of Sympathy for late Trinity College Senator Trevor West
06 December 2012
Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy
Thursday, 6 December 2012
On behalf of the Labour Party group in the House, as Deputy Leader of Seanad Éireann and as a Trinity College Senator, I am honoured to pay tribute to the late and much missed Trevor West. I welcome his wife, Maura Lee, and his family, including friends of mine, who are in the Visitors Gallery.
I am pleased that we are paying tribute to Trevor West. I knew him personally. When I came to Trinity College Dublin as a student in the late 1980s, he was already a formidable, well known and legendary chair of the Dublin University central athletics committee. As others have said, he served in that role for 30 years. He was immensely well known and well loved on the TCD campus. Others have commented on his sporting prowess and his achievements in cricket and in sport more generally for TCD.
Trevor West's success in saving College Park from development was not only important for Trinity College Dublin and the campus but also for Dublin city centre in the sense that we continue to benefit from a wonderful green space in the middle of Dublin. It is a privilege to have it. Many people from outside the university use it every day in summer for lunches. It is a lovely place to remember Trevor West.
Other speakers have mentioned Trevor West's political career in the Seanad. He was Mary Robinson's election agent. She pays warm tribute to him in her memoir, Everybody Matters, and mentions that he was the famous third signatory of the Bill proposing the legalisation of contraceptives that she introduced in the early 1970s. It was also signed by the former Senator John Horgan.
It has been mentioned in the many obituaries and newspaper tributes that have been paid to Trevor that he made a quiet but significant contribution to reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Many of us were not aware of this remarkable achievement when he was alive. His association with Gusty Spence, in particular, allowed him to play an influential role in nudging the peace process forward.
We should also remember Trevor West's academic work. He was a noted mathematician and a popular lecturer in maths at Trinity College Dublin for many years. He remained popular while imposing discipline as junior dean, which was quite an achievement. His mathematical prowess had been noted at Midleton college and at the High School in Dublin, where he attended secondary school. He apparently got 100% in his intermediate certificate maths examination, which was another remarkable achievement.
It is fair to say he was a real Trinity man. He lived on campus. He was actively involved in the university at every level for many years. As students, we all knew of him and of his immense commitment to the college, his support for events like Trinity Week and the Trinity Ball, his real fondness for students and his commitment to working for them. The contribution Trevor West made to the development of sports on the campus was marked at a recent event in the exam hall at which Trinity Olympians were honoured.
I will always treasure my last memory of Trevor West, which was not too long ago. We exchanged a smile and said "Hello" as we walked through New Square in college. It sums up a man who was very much part of Trinity life. I know Senator Barrett will have many more warm memories to share. In his words, Trevor West was a "bold collegian". He was very much a part of Trinity College Dublin to which he made an immense contribution for many years. He contributed to Irish politics through his work in the Seanad, for which we remember him today. I will conclude by extending my sympathy and that of the Labour Party group to his wife, Maura, his family and many friends and associates in Trinity College Dublin and elsewhere.