Sean Loftus, an outstanding defender of unborn children and marriage, is no longer with us.

Sean Loftus was born in Dublin on 27 November 1927. His father was a doctor and wanted Sean to follow in his footsteps. He studied medicine in UCD, but finding that it was not to his liking, he emigrated to England in the late 1940s. Sean worked on building sites, and saw firsthand the great difficulties that the uneducated Irish emigrants faced. His colleagues insisted that he better himself, so after six years he returned to Ireland to study law at King's Inn in Dublin. After graduation Sean spent more time in England, where he met a man who gave him a ticket to America.

He came to the US in 1959, and spent three years lecturing in colleges and clubs on Irish affairs. He met with Cardinal Cushing of Boston who took a great interest in Ireland. Sean was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Division 9 in Montclair, New Jersey, an Irish-American Catholic fraternal organisation, and was the guest of honour at the 1960 National Convention at the invitation of the National President Jeremiah J O'Callaghan.

Returning to Ireland in 1961, Sean founded the Christian Democrat Party of Ireland. Having been frustrated in court in his attempt to register the party, Sean changed his name by deed poll several times to give himself a prominent place on the ballot. Sean Loftus married Una in 1962. They raised three children in Clontarf. Sean was first elected to Dublin City Council in 1974 and served for 25 years. He was elected to the Dáil in 1981, and was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1995-1996. Sean was widely respected as a man of the highest integrity.

He was prominent in the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign of 1982-1983, which resulted in a Pro-Life amendment to the Irish Constitution, the Eighth Amendment, also known as Article 40.3.3. After the infamous X Case in 1992, Sean was active in reviving Pro-Life activity in Dublin North-Central. With Pro-Life featuring prominently on his agenda, he stood in the 1992 general election, receiving the highest vote of any Pro-Life candidate in the country. He vigorously opposed divorce in the successful anti-divorce campaign of 1986. He opposed divorce again in 1995, when the Irish government, illegally using taxpayers' money to influence the electorate, removed the constitutional ban on divorce by way of referendum. He warned that governments were trying to take the Christian influence out of schools – leading Ireland down the same slippery slope that many other countries have followed.

Sean campaigned to give control of the Irish Constitution back to the people of Ireland by means of the initiative petition. This is true democracy. He favoured postal votes for emigrants. Sean was a lecturer in Town Planning. As the leading environmentalist long before the term "Green" was heard of, Sean showed genuine concern for the country, particularly Dublin, where he successfully fought irresponsible development of Dublin Bay. Sean also ran for the European Parliament. He had a great sense of humour and was a real man of the people. Sean would have made a fine President of Ireland.

Sean Dublin Bay-Rockall Loftus loved walking and was a skilled gardener. He is greatly missed by his wife Una, daughters Muireann and Fiona, a son Ruairi, grandchildren, family and a wide circle of friends.

John O'Gorman,

30 Myrtle Avenue,

Winthrop, Massachusetts,

USA