Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald was born in Dublin in 1926, into a very politically active family. His mother Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald was involved in politics and it was through her that his father became political. He had three older brothers, Desmond (1911–1987), Pierce (1914–1986), and Fergus (1920–1983).

Desmond FitzGerald was born and raised in London. He was Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth.[4] FitzGerald senior, whose father had emigrated as a labourer, from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and fought during the 1916 Easter Rising. Desmond FitzGerald had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence, and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal. The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.[5]

Although a senior figure on the pro-treaty side of Ireland's political divide, Desmond FitzGerald had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans, such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee, a Minister, in Éamon de Valera's government, and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien. The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe, were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother, the former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent, although later in life she converted to Catholicism.[6] Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home.

FitzGerald was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946, later returning to complete a PhD which he obtained in 1968. He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD, his future political rival, Charles Haughey, who also knew Joan O'Farrell (1923–1999), a Liverpool-born fellow student,[7] whom FitzGerald married in 1947. Their children were John, Mary, and Mark.[8]

Following his university education, in 1947, he started working with Aer Lingus, the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for British magazine The Economist,[5] and was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the Features Editor in The Irish Times. He remained in Aer Lingus until 1959, when after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish Industry in Trinity College, Dublin, he became a lecturer in economics at UCD.

FitzGerald qualified as a barrister, from the King's Inns of Ireland,[9] and spoke French fluently.[10][lower-alpha 1]

FitzGerald was eager to enter politics, and it was suggested by several members of Fianna Fáil, including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats, that he should join that party.[lower-alpha 2] Ultimately, FitzGerald, made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael. He attached himself to the liberal wing of Fine Gael, which rallied around the Just Society programme written by Declan Costello. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann, for the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election, for the Dublin South-East constituency,[12] the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in the parliamentary party and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave. Difference in political outlook, and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael ard fheis in Cork, Cosgrave referred to the 'mongrel foxes' who should be rooted out of the party, a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader.

FitzGerald was an opponent of the US bombing of North Vietnam.[13]

FitzGerald (l–r) with Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, US president Gerald Ford and US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office on St Patrick's Day, 1976

After the 1973 general election, Fine Gael came to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party, with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach. FitzGerald hoped[14] that he would take over as Minister for Finance, particularly after a good performance in a pre-election debate with the then Minister for Finance George Colley. However the position went to Richie Ryan, with FitzGerald becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was a case of history repeating itself as FitzGerald's father had held that post in a government led by Liam Cosgrave's father W. T. Cosgrave, fifty years earlier. His appointment to Iveagh House (the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs) would have a huge effect on FitzGerald's own career and the future of Fine Gael. Cosgrave was suspicious of FitzGerald's liberal ideas and believed that he had designs on the leadership. During his period at Foreign Affairs, FitzGerald developed a good relationship with Liam Cosgrave and all the tension that had existed between them in opposition disappeared.

The Minister's role had changed substantially since his father's day. Ireland was no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, but had in 1973, joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the organisation which would later become the European Union (EU). FitzGerald, firmly ensconced as Foreign Minister, was free from any blame due to other Ministers' mishandling of the economy. If anything, his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs helped him to eventually achieve the leadership of the party. His innovative views, energy and fluency in French won him – and through him, Ireland – a status in European affairs far exceeding the country's size and ensured that the first Irish Presidency of the European Council in 1975 was a noted success.[15]

FitzGerald's policy towards church-state relations however, brought him into confrontation with the Roman Catholic church, whose "special position" in the Republic had been enshrined in the Constitution until the Referendum of December 1972. FitzGerald in 1973 met Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli, and proposed to further modify the Republic's Constitution to remove laws with overtly Catholic foundations, such as the bans on divorce and contraception, as well as to relax the public stigmas in Northern Ireland towards mixed religious marriages and integrated education. Casaroli at first seemed receptive, and the Government formally submitted the proposal to the Vatican. FitzGerald's vision caused great consternation among the church's hierarchy, however, and in 1977, Pope Paul VI personally met with FitzGerald to tell him that "Ireland was a Catholic country – perhaps the only one left – and it should stay that way. Laws should not be changed in any way that would make the country less Catholic."[16]

In 1977, the National Coalition of Fine Gael and Labour suffered a disastrous electoral defeat in the general election. Liam Cosgrave resigned as party leader and FitzGerald was chosen by acclamation to succeed him.[14] In his new role as Leader of the Opposition and party leader, he set about modernising and revitalising Fine Gael. He immediately appointed a General-Secretary to oversee all of this, a tactic copied from Fianna Fáil. Under FitzGerald, Fine Gael experienced a rapid rise in support and popularity. After the November 1982 election it held only five seats fewer than Fianna Fáil (their closest ever margin until 2011; at times Fianna Fáil was nearly twice as large), with Fine Gael in the Oireachtas bigger than Fianna Fáil, who had been the dominant force in Irish politics for 40 years.[17]

By the time of the 1981 general election, Fine Gael had a party machine that could easily match Fianna Fáil's. The party won 65 seats and formed a minority coalition government with the Labour Party and the support of a number of Independent TDs. FitzGerald was elected Taoiseach, on 30 June 1981. To the surprise of many FitzGerald excluded Richie Ryan, Richard Burke and Tom O'Donnell, former Fine Gael stalwarts, from the cabinet.

Two fundamental problems faced FitzGerald during his first period: Northern Ireland and the worsening economic situation. A protest march in support of the H-Block hunger strikers in July 1981, was harshly dealt with by FitzGerald. On one occasion where he met with relatives of the hunger strikers, he refused to meet the family of Bobby Sands, an MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and O/C of the Provisional IRA hunger strikers, and the first to die on this strike, along with the sister of Raymond McCreesh, who had died on 21 May. During the meeting, two of Thomas McElwee's sisters, Mary and Nora, broke down and left the meeting. Mary McElwee stated to the media outside that "he's doing nothing, he's asking for suggestions". FitzGerald then ordered Gardaí to remove the families from the meeting. FitzGerald's response was, in the words of Eamonn Sweeney, to "lay all the blame for the hunger strikers on the republican movement and to suggest an immediate unilateral end to their military campaign".[18]

The economic crisis was also much worse than FitzGerald had feared. Fine Gael had to jettison its plans for tax cuts in the run-up to the election and a draconian mid-year budget was introduced almost immediately. The July Budget seemed exceptionally austere for a government dependent on Independent TDs support. However, the second budget introduced by John Bruton led to the Government's defeat in the Dáil on the evening of 27 January 1982.

In light of this loss of supply, FitzGerald went to Áras an Uachtaráin to request an immediate dissolution of the Dáil from the President, Patrick Hillery. When he got there, he was informed that a series of telephone calls had been made by senior opposition figures (and some Independent TDs), including the Leader of the Opposition (and ex-Taoiseach) Charles Haughey, Brian Lenihan and Sylvester Barrett demanding that the President refuse the dissolution, as he was constitutionally allowed to do when it was advised by a Taoiseach who has "ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann." Had Hillery done so, it would have forced FitzGerald's resignation as Taoiseach and enabled the Dáil to nominate someone else for the post—presumably Haughey. Hillery is said to have angrily rejected such pressure, regarding it as gross misconduct. He granted FitzGerald the dissolution.[lower-alpha 3]

In the subsequent general election in February 1982, Fine Gael lost only two seats but were out of power. However, a third general election within eighteen months in November 1982, resulted in FitzGerald being returned as Taoiseach for a second time, heading a Fine Gael–Labour coalition with a working majority.

FitzGerald (left) at the official opening of the Wang facility in Plassey Technological Park, Limerick, 1984

FitzGerald (right) giving a bowl of shamrocks to US president Ronald Reagan in the White House Rose Garden on St Patrick's Day, 1986

Deep economic recession dominated FitzGerald's second term as well as his first. The pursuit of 'fiscal rectitude' to reduce a high national debt required a firmer control of public spending than Labour found easy to accept. The harmonious relationship the Taoiseach developed with Tánaiste, Dick Spring successfully avoided a collapse of the coalition for more than four years, despite tensions between other Ministers, and enabled the Government to survive. Fine Gael wanted to revive the economy by controlling public spending and imposing cutbacks to reduce the public budget deficit.

The measures proposed by FitzGerald's Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes, were completely unacceptable to the Labour Party which was under enormous pressure from its support base to maintain public services. The two parties in Government found themselves in a stalemate position. They stopped the financial crisis from worsening but could not take the decisive action that would generate economic growth. With negligible economic growth and large scale unemployment, the FitzGerald Government was deeply unpopular with the public. The Fianna Fáil opposition added to the woes of the Government by taking a decidedly opportunistic and populist line in opposing every suggested reform and cutback.

When FitzGerald attended a meeting of the Bilderberg Group in 1985, his rival Charles Haughey suggested it had links with NATO, thus contravening Ireland's official position of neutrality.[19] It was not his only participation. He took part also in 1975, 1977, 1984, 1986 and 1987. With 6 participations in total he is thus the third Irishmen after Peter Sutherland (24 conferences) and Dermot Gleeson with 8 conferences.

FitzGerald arriving for the Lisbon Treaty count in 2009

FitzGerald retired as leader of Fine Gael immediately after the election by the Dáil of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach,[22] to be replaced by Alan Dukes. His autobiography All in a Life appeared in 1991, immediately becoming a best-seller. He retired completely from politics at the 1992 general election. His wife, Joan, predeceased him in 1999[8] after a long illness.

After that FitzGerald wrote a weekly column every Saturday in The Irish Times, and lectured widely at home and abroad on public affairs.[lower-alpha 5] He came out of retirement to campaign for a "yes" vote in the second Irish referendum on the EU's Treaty of Nice, held in 2002. He held the post of Chancellor of the National University of Ireland from 1997 to 2009. In March 2000, FitzGerald was on the board of directors of Election.com, when it conducted the world's first public election ever held over the Internet, the Arizona Democratic primary, which was won by Al Gore; in that primary, voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.[24]

FitzGerald took a leading part in the campaign for a second referendum on the EU's Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. He argued for Ireland to continue with European integration. FitzGerald had been scathing of the record of the Fianna Fáil–led Government since 1997, on the economy and the national finances. He was a frequent critic in his Irish Times column, of the loss of competitiveness that occurred and the inflation caused by the tax cuts and excessive public spending increases of the Celtic Tiger era. In 2009, FitzGerald received a new ministerial car, the first and only one to be purchased by the state since an economic recession hit Ireland in 2008.[25] In 2010, FitzGerald appeared on RTÉ's "Top 40 Irishmen" list.

He was Vice-President of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland for his last 20 years.[26]

In early 1999, it was revealed that some six years earlier, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Ansbacher Banks wrote off debts of almost IR£200,000 owed by FitzGerald, following the collapse of the aircraft leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), in which he was a shareholder.[27] Chairman of AIB at the time, Peter Sutherland, was also a former director of GPA and had served as Attorney General under FitzGerald, prior to FitzGerald appointing him as Ireland's member of the European Commission. The Moriarty Tribunal investigated this matter, and compared the treatment by AIB of FitzGerald, with their treatment of Charles Haughey. They found no evidence of any wrongdoing; indeed the Tribunal heard evidence as to the hardship that FitzGerald went to – to the extent of selling of his family home – to repay the debt to the best of his ability.[lower-alpha 6]

On 5 May 2011, it was reported that FitzGerald was seriously ill in a Dublin hospital.[30] Newly-elected Fine Gael Taoiseach Enda Kenny sent his regards and called him an "institution";[31] on 6 May he was put on a ventilator.[32] On 19 May,[33] after suffering from pneumonia,[34] he died at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin,[35] at the age of 85.

In a statement, Irish President Mary McAleese hailed FitzGerald as "a man steeped in the history of the State who constantly strove to make Ireland a better place for all its people".[36] Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid homage to "a truly remarkable man who made a truly remarkable contribution to Ireland".[37] Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State who served as an opposite number to FitzGerald in the 1970s, recalled "an intelligent and amusing man who was dedicated to his country".[38]

His death occurred on the third day of Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to the Republic of Ireland, an event designed to mark the completion of the Northern Ireland peace process that had been "built on the foundations" of FitzGerald's Anglo-Irish Agreement with Margaret Thatcher in 1985.[39] In a personal message, the Queen offered her sympathies and said she was "saddened" to learn of FitzGerald's death.[40] British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was also in Ireland, paid tribute to FitzGerald's "huge contribution to the peace process bringing reconciliation for all that had happened in the past".[41][42]

On his visit to Dublin, US President Barack Obama offered condolences on FitzGerald's death; he spoke of him as "someone who believed in the power of education; someone who believed in the potential of youth; most of all, someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realised".[43]

FitzGerald was buried at Shanganagh Cemetery.[44]

There has been a call for Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 to be renamed the Garret FitzGerald Terminal in light of "his early career and lifelong interest in aviation".[45] In February 2012, Young Fine Gael (YFG) announced that its annual Summer School would be renamed the Garret FitzGerald YFG Summer School.

The following governments of Ireland were led by FitzGerald:

• 17th Government of Ireland (22nd Dáil; June 1981 – March 1982)
• 19th Government of Ireland (24th Dáil; December 1982 – March 1987)

• Media related to Garret FitzGerald at Wikimedia Commons