Michael Mills:MICHAEL MILLS became the State's first ombudsman following a career in journalism in which he established himself as an authoritative political correspondent who reported a most turbulent period in the history of Fianna Fáil. Although employed by the Irish Press under the control of the de Valera family, Mills was not afraid to antagonise senior figures in the party by writing the truth as he saw it.
A determination to uphold high standards permeated his career. As the doyen of the press corps at Leinster House, he was held in high regard by journalists and politicians of all persuasions. And he loved nothing more than discussing the minutiae of political developments over a late-night pint in Doheny & Nesbitt's.
He had a great love of film and on quiet summer days at Leinster House he could sometimes be found in a local cinema. His appreciation of the arts grew with the years and he was a committed visitor to exhibitions in museums and galleries at home and abroad.
He had a difficult relationship with Charles Haughey from the time Haughey became taoiseach in 1979. Beginning with an admiration for the energetic young cabinet minister in the 1960s, Mills came to distrust him over Northern Ireland and what he saw as his efforts to undermine one of Mills' political heroes, Jack Lynch. The feud between them continued into Mills' period as ombudsman.
In his memoir published in 2005, he painted a scathing portrait of Haughey, describing his periods in power as "a time of deceit and duplicity when good people like my mother became so disillusioned that they ceased to vote at all".
Michael Mills was born in Mountmellick, Co Laois, in October 1927. His father, who was born near Belmullet in Co Mayo, was manager of the DE Williams store in the town. His mother was a Phelan from Radestown, Co Kilkenny. The family fell on increasingly hard times but the young Mills succeeded in winning scholarships up to university entrance level. As he could not afford to take it up, he began in journalism, working in Wexford, Wicklow and Bray before becoming a reporter on the Irish Press.
He developed a love of theatre and became friends with actors and actresses who were later to become famous. He was appointed drama critic for the newspaper and established a useful relationship with the exiled Sean O'Casey over the telephone.
On being appointed political correspondent, Mills rather daringly told his boss, the managing director, Vivion de Valera, that he would only take the job if he "would not be required to write propaganda of any description". The major agreed and gradually a friendship developed.
Mills began to build up a profile outside the newspaper by his appearances on the new television programme on politics, Hurler on the Ditch, chaired by a fellow journalist, John Healy, with whom Mills would have a wary relationship as Healy became an increasing admirer of Charles Haughey.
In his memoir, also called Hurler On The Ditch, Mills confessed that in May 1970 he and the other political correspondents were stunned by the events surrounding the sacking of Haughey and Neil Blaney and the charges against them of conspiracy to import arms illegally. Whatever about Blaney, it was not credible to journalists that Haughey, a former minister for justice who had helped crush the IRA in the 1950s, could be involved in such a venture.
As the taoiseach at the time, Jack Lynch, struggled to hold the shattered Fianna Fáil party together, he won the increasing respect of Mills who wrote that he "formed a strong attachment" to him which persisted through Lynch's career until his death.
But it was a scoop by Mills about the secret permission by Dublin for British overflights of the Border in pursuit of IRA members that hastened the resignation of Lynch in December 1979. This brought about the elevation of Haughey, the circumstances of which Mills described later as "sad and disillusioning".
Mills was a close observer of the upheavals inside Fianna Fáil in 1981-1983 as repeated attempts were made to oust Haughey. But he was incensed when, without informing him, the Irish Press published the "political obituary" of Haughey, confidently predicting his imminent resignation. Mills described it as a "major faux pas" and Haughey was to stay leader of Fianna Fáil for another eight years.
Mills was amazed in 1983 to be invited by the Fine Gael-Labour government to become the State's first ombudsman. He accepted on condition that the other party leaders including Haughey had no objection. He learned later that one of the reasons Haughey agreed was that "it would end my position as Political Editor of the Irish Press".
Mills found his new job challenging but rewarding although he ran into obstruction from several government departments who seemed resentful of his investigative powers. Over his 10 years in office he achieved many victories over bureaucracies in the health boards and semi-State companies as well as government departments. To his regret he found that civil servants he knew well began avoiding him. To compensate for that, people whom he helped to secure their rights would stop him in the street to thank him.
His struggles with his bête noire, Charles Haughey, were not over. Cuts in the ombudsman office budget by the Fianna Fáil government in 1987-1988 threatened to close it altogether because of inadequate staff but Mills secured trade union help to survive. As the end of his first term approached in 1989, a move by Haughey to prevent his re-appointment was thwarted by the leader of the Progressive Democrats, Des O'Malley, when he was alerted by the opposition what was afoot. Mills retired five years later at the age of 67.
Michael Mills had a wide circle of friends inside and outside of journalism and politics. He was great company with endless stories of political skulduggery. Golf was his method of relaxation and for many years he holidayed on Achill Island where he was also well-known.
He is survived by his wife, Brid, and family of eight - Frances, Gerald, Kieran, Liam, Pauline, Veronica, Michael and Stephanie.
Michael Mills, born October 31st, 1927; died April 13th, 2008.