Former ombudsman dies

The former ombudsman Kevin Murphy has died aged 75.

Mr Murphy was appointed as ombudsman in 1994, when he succeeded the first ombudsman, Mr Michael Mills. He added the post of Information Commissioner in 1998 following the passage of the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Murphy retired in 2003 and was replaced by Emily O'Reilly.

Mr Murphy had been expected to retire a year earlier but stayed on on to serve as an ex-officio member of the Referendum Commission during the Nice Treaty campaign, and to complete a special report on the refusal of the Revenue Commissioners to accept a recommendation of his about paying interest and compensation to certain taxpayers who had been taxed too much.

Following his retirement, Mr Murphy served as a member of the first appointments committee of the Press Council.

Mr Murphy is survived by his wife Kay and his children Deirdre, Colm, Niamh and Caitriona.

Ms Reilly led tributes to her predecessor, who she said bore his debilitating illness with "immense courage and good humour."

"Building on the work of the first ombudsman, the late Michael Mills, Kevin moved to instil good practices in all of the public bodies the office dealt with. He developed principles of good administration, complaint handling and customer service and in so doing helped to focus the attention of public officials on the needs of the people they served, rather than on the interests of the public bodies themselves," she said.

"His wide experience of the civil and public service allowed him to cut through bureaucratic obfuscation and excuses when dealing with difficult complaints and his own integrity, his strong sense of ethical behaviour informed everything that he did.

"Kevin exemplified everything that is good about the public servant and the public service. He did his work diligently, thoughtfully and modestly. The values that should be embedded in our public service were deeply embedded in him, and his legacy will be a renewed effort on the part of this office towards honouring those values and his memory through our own service to the public," she added.

Mr Murphy's removal will take place at the Lady of Perpetual Succour Church, Foxrock tomorrow with burial mass the following morning.