Taoiseach leads tributes to Dr Hillery

BERTIE AHERN:FORMER PRESIDENT Dr Patrick Hillery "gave outstanding and unrivalled service to the Irish State and to the Irish people" and his "entire career sums up what is best about politics and public service", Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil.

"The passing of Dr Patrick Hillery, our former colleague in Dáil Éireann, our first European commissioner and our sixth President, is not just the end of a life or even the end of an era. It is the end of a political age."

Dr Hillery "defined loyalty. He embodied integrity, he was both clever and he was wise, but most of all, he was a people's person, a Clare man proud of his heritage and at home with his people."

He "set the highest of standards in the administration of public affairs. History would record the huge contribution Patrick Hillery made not just to the progress of Irish society but also to our democracy."

He was "an exemplary president," Mr Ahern continued. "He brought stability to the office when it was needed. In volatile political times, he was a cool head who exercised his powers wisely and assiduously protected the independence of Ireland's highest office."

During tributes in the Dáil, the Taoiseach recounted some of his achievements. As minister for foreign affairs, Dr Hillery "brought Ireland on to the world stage and succeeded in internationalising what had been labelled as the Irish question, but had been seen as a purely British problem. He was always a voice for peace and sanity. With Jack Lynch, he led Ireland into the European Economic Community."

Ireland then "regained her self-confidence as a nation on the European stage." He described Dr Hillery as "one of this House's finest sons. Patrick Hillery won fame, but he never lost his sense of modesty. He gained power, but he never lost his respect for others. He attained the highest honour this Republic can bestow but his dignity came, not from any office he held but from the spirit of public service with which he fulfilled every position in which he served."

The ideal "of what Ireland could become inspired all his life and work. He was first elected to this House with Éamon de Valera for Co Clare in 1951. He first served in government under de Valera's great comrade, Seán Lemass. The young doctor whom Dev brought into politics would, as a minister, do much to bring Ireland into the modern world."

As minister for education, "he set about making the entitlement to a good education not the privilege of the few but the destiny of all". As minister for industry and commerce and later for labour, "he made strategic and far-sighted economic choices which sowed the seeds for future prosperity".

Mr Ahern quoted comments by Dr Hillery on the death of his former colleague anda great friend Jack Lynch: "Something emanated from him that made you feel good about him and good about yourself if you were near him," Dr Hillery had said

"That same sentiment applied to Paddy Hillery."

Offering his condolences and those of the Government and Fianna Fáil to the Hillery family, Mr Ahern said: "I know that Mrs Hillery's great strength of character and quiet dignity, which have so long been admired by the Irish people, will serve her well in the sad days ahead."