Portrait to honour 'economic revolutionary'

One of the chief architects of the Republic's economic expansion has been honoured for his contribution to Irish society with a portrait in the National Gallery in Dublin.

The specially commissioned painting of Dr T.K. Whitaker, the eminent economist and former civil servant, was unveiled yesterday by the the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.

Dr Whitaker, who will be 86 in December, described the portrait as an "almost overwhelming, unexpected honour". He was also very pleased with the portrait itself.

"It does me proud and portrays me as I am today. The only thing I regret is that it wasn't 50 years ago."

Dr Whitaker is being recognised for the first programme of economic expansion in 1958 which changed Irish economic policy from protectionism to free trade and to welcoming foreign investment.

Dr Whitaker said it was a "significant achievement" but a collaborative effort. "I was the leader of a very enthusiastic team."

Mr McCreevy said Dr Whitaker was a "truly universal man in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance".

The combination of Seán Lemass, who become Taoiseach in 1959, and Dr Whitaker laid the foundation for the "subsequent development of the Irish economy, which in the last few years has resulted in the best Irish economic and social progress in our history".

Mr Raymond Keaveney, director of the National Gallery, added that in the "dark day of the 1940s and 1950s, Ken Whitaker and his colleagues in the Irish Civil Service had the vision to open up Ireland to foreign investment, which became such an important cornerstone of our modern industrial development and helped stem the terrible drain of emigration".

Dr Whitaker's portrait goes on display to the public today in the Dargan Wing of the gallery.

It was painted by Thomas Ryan, one of Ireland's leading portraitists, whose painting of the first Dáil in the Mansion House hangs over the entrance to the Dáil chamber in Leinster House.

It is the fourth in a series of portraits of famous Irish achievers. They have been commissioned from Irish artists for the gallery by Irish Life & Permanent.

Previous portraits are of former president Mrs Mary Robinson and her husband Nick; Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delaney, and broadcaster Gay Byrne.

Mr Roy Douglas, chairman of Irish Life & Permanent, said Dr Whitaker's "towering intellect, his ability for radical thought and his leadership skills saw him spearhead what amounted to a policy of revolution in the Ireland of the 1950s . . . and it was a revolution on which the success of today's economy has been firmly built".