RIP Indeed. Definitely not the stereotypical politician, sometimes a little aloof. There is an anecdote about how he was on a constituency visit down to Cork in the mid 80s, and saw all the red and white flags on poles as Cork went towards another hurling All Ireland Final. Apparently he was astonished at the depth of support for Lech Walesa and the Solidarity Polish Party in Cork 
RIP Garrett, you did well.
Hmm... sounds suspiciously like the story about John McGuffin and Jerry Rubin:
One day in the late 1960s, when we thought we’d heard
the chimes of freedom flashing, I drove to Dublin with
McGuffin and the American anarchist Jerry Rubin. A
mile or so out of Newry, McGuffin explained to the
fabled member of the Chicago Seven that the town we
were approaching was in the grip of revolution. The
risen people had turned en masse to anarchism. We’d
better barrel on through. If we stopped for a moment
the fevered proletariat would surely engulf us…
Down were in the All-Ireland final that weekend. Every
house, lamppost and telegraph pole was festooned with
red-and-black flags. Rubin was agog, at risk of
levitation when we passed under banners strung across
the streets, reading, “Up Down!”
“These people really got the revolutionary ethic”,
enthused the ecstatic Rubin.
“As much as yourself, comrade”, allowed the gracious
McGuffin.
