GERRY O'CONNELL,
Sir, - Fine Gael has lost one of its last great social consciences with the death of Jim Mitchell.Nothing befits a great man more then the manner of his passing; Jim passed away surrounded by a family that he worshipped and with the courage of someone who had fought to the very end to live his life to the full.
And what a life it was. His record of service to public and party were exemplary. A working-class Dub, Jim was a champion of the underdog. Community-based politics was his raison d'être, and he recognised the importance of representing all sections of the community. He was man of the people and a man for all of the people, all of the time. Rarely has a public representative been so generous with his time and his endeavours.
The electoral record will take some beating. His talent as a legislator, firstly at Justice, and later at Transport, Posts and Telegraphs and Communications, marked him out as one of the shining lights in the two FitzGerald administrations. The creation of a modern postal and telecoms service based on efficiency, integrity and service to the public is perhaps his greatest legacy of his Cabinet years.
His chairmanship of the DIRT inquiry was one of the great Parliamentary achievements of the 1990s, and is something that the historians of the future will rightly declare to be Jim Mitchell's finest hour.
Jim Mitchell was a politician who thought a lot about young people.He was equally at ease engaging in banter with a few corner-boys at the Five Lamps or addressing a university audience. He was a great supporter of Young Fine Gael, and went out of his way to get young people involved in politics.
My abiding memory of Jim Mitchell will be the last campaign he fought. I'm privileged to be able to say that I was a very small part of it. In early 2000 Jim's intelligence network had sourced a few us YFGers living in Dublin Central as displaced culchies, and soon he had us drafted in as leaflet-droppers. The doors of his home were thrown open opened as Jim and Patsy hosted a reception for new members. His last campaign was fought on the streets, the enthusiasm for our man deflecting attention away from the biting cold, and long walks, the odd soaking, and the even rarer slammed door.
Jim Mitchell's loss to Ireland is considerable; his loss to Fine Gael is immense. The greatest tribute our party could offer to honour his memory, would be to become the party Jim Mitchell would like it to be: progressive, hard-working, honest, caring, people-orientated and, above all, winning. For among all other things Jim Mitchell was one of life's winners.
Ar dheis De go raibh a ainm dílis. On behalf of the national executive and membership of Young Fine Gael I offer our heartfelt condolences to Patsy, Neil, Ruairi, Sinead, Aoife, Catriona, to his brothers and sisters, including our colleague Gay Mitchell TD, to his extended family and relatives and his many, many friends. - Yours, etc.,
GERRY O'CONNELL, President, Young Fine Gael, Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2.
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Madam, - Jim Mitchell was an incredible public representative. He gave politics a good name. He will be very sadly missed. - Yours, etc.,
RORY McVEY, Rushbrook Way, Dubin 6w.