President Mary McAleese today paid tribute to distinguished civil servant TK Whittaker on his 90th birthday.
Dubbed the father of the modern Irish economy, Dr Whittaker steered Ireland away from its traditional protectionism and pushed it towards free trade and foreign investment.
He was secretary general of the Department of Finance in 1958 when his landmark document, A Programme for Economic Expansion, was published.
Dr Whittaker, who turns 90 this month, and his wife, Mary, today paid a courtesy call on President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin.
"The president wanted to mark Dr Whittaker's significant birthday and to recognise his considerable contribution to Irish society," a spokesperson for the President said.
Mrs McAleese presented Dr Whittaker with a ceramic palette, while he offered her a gift of his new book Retrospect 2006-1916.
Dr Whittaker retired from the Department of Finance in 1969 but remained a policy adviser on Northern Ireland to then-taoiseach Jack Lynch.
He was Governor of the Central Bank when Ireland entered the EEC with Britain and Denmark in 1973, and he served as an independent member of the Seanad between 1977 and 1982.
The Co Down-born civil servant was named the Irishman of the 20th Century by an RTÉ programme in 2001.