Former Labour TD and minister Emmet Stagg has died at the age of 79. 

He was a TD in the constituencies of Kildare North and Kildare from 1987 to 2016. 

He served as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and later at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications from 1994 to 1997. 

He also served as Labour Party Chief Whip from 2007 to 2016, and as Deputy Government Chief Whip from 2011 to 2016. 

Mr Stagg left Leinster House in 2016 when he lost his seat in the general election. He ran for election again in 2020, but failed to regain his seat. 

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny talking to Labour Party Chief Whip Emmet Stagg at the publication of the Governments programmes of Dail Reform in Government Buildings, 2013. Photo: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Labour leader Ivana Bacik honoured Mr Stagg as “a pillar of Labour politics, both in Leinster House and in Kildare 

"He will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” she said. “He was kind and considerate and maintained a keen interest in Labour politics even after leaving the Dáil. 

“He was also a great mentor to me when I first joined the Party as a student in the late 1980’s and was always very supportive of Labour Youth within the Party. 

"Those of us who knew him as a friend and supportive mentor over many years are particularly saddened by the news of his passing. Our deepest sympathies are with Mary and his family at this time.” 

She paid tribute to Mr Stagg’s wife Mary, children Gillian and Henry, extended family, friends, and supporters. 

Main image: Emmet Stagg TD speaking in favour of a motion to decriminalise cannabis at the Labour Party Conference in Wexford, 2007 Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie