The former Chief Justice Tom O'Higgins has died at the age of 86.
Mr O'Higgins served as Fine Gael TD for Laois-Offaly from 1948 and served as Minister for Health from 1954 to 1957 when he established the Voluntary Health Insurance Board.
He was narrowly defeated when he stood for the Presidency in 1966 and contestedthe position again in 1973.
He was the son of former Minister for Defence Dr Thomas F O'Higgins and the nephew of Kevin O'Higgins,a Minister in the Free State government who was assassinatednear his Dublin home in 1927.
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He was appointed Chief Justice in 1974 and was appointed as a Judge of the European Court in 1984. Mr O'Higgins retired in 1991.
He is survived by his wife, seven children and 30 grandchildren.