Sir, – There have been many accolades bestowed on the late TK Whitaker. I’m aware of one that he was immensely proud of. In a conversation I had with him in 2002 about his home town of Drogheda, he mentioned that he had been honoured by his alma mater, CBS Drogheda, with an outstanding achievement award in recognition of his contribution to the development of Ireland. He illustrated in his modest way that over 700 students sat the Leaving Certificate in his home town in 2002 compared to seven students in the CBS Drogheda when he sat his Leaving Certificate examination in 1934.
Notwithstanding all our current challenges, this progress speaks volumes of a very proud Irishman who did so much to enhance the quality of life of so many of his fellow citizens. – Yours, etc,
GERRY KIERANS,
Athgarvan, Co Kildare.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Sir, – TK Whitaker was a great man who served his country and his God well. Your supplement of January 11th is pretty comprehensive on the economic state of the country in the postwar years. It is unusual in that several of the articles do give some attention to the pre-Whitaker economic initiatives and credit Gerard Sweetman of Fine Gael with taking key steps on the road to modernisation. But there is an important name missing and that is taoiseach John A Costello. It was his government which on May 30th, 1956, appointed TK Whitaker over the heads of many senior officials as secretary of the Department Finance. But prior to that, the government realised that a new economic path was necessary if the country was to survive economically. Costello presented a new detailed economic plan on October 5th, 1956. Sweetman, as minister, instructed the new secretary at the Department of Finance to begin immediate implementation of certain aspects of the plan.
The Irish Times noted in an editorial, "The plan that Mr Costello announced yesterday is the one that ought to have been put before the country 30 years ago".
The political crises of 1956 created international instability and, together with the IRA campaign, led Clann na Poblachta to withdraw support from the government, leading to a return to power of Fianna Fáil in 1957.
Ken Whitaker later said that Sweetman was a singularly unfortunate minister of finance, inasmuch as his government collapsed before the “ideas which he implemented could bear fruit”. Whitaker then had to persuade Fianna Fáil to abandon its traditional policy of protectionism and follow his First Programme for Economic Expansion. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY J JORDAN,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.