THE LATE Garret FitzGerald was “a guide and mentor to this country”, former president Mary Robinson said at University College Dublin last night.
Giving the keynote address to the first annual Garret FitzGerald Spring School at UCD, Mrs Robinson said the outpouring of public affection for the former taoiseach when he died last year showed he had become “a wise grandfather” to Ireland.
She told an audience of relatives, friends, colleagues and admirers of Dr FitzGerald: “Garret died at a time when a goal he had done so much to achieve – peace on our island – was sealed by the highly successful State visit of Queen Elizabeth.
“When historians assess the history of Ireland over the last half-century, Garret FitzGerald’s name will be held in the highest esteem for many reasons and most of all for his dedication in seeking a lasting solution in Northern Ireland.”
He had worked tirelessly for peace: “The part which Garret played in bringing an end to that dreadful situation is something his country will never forget,” Mrs Robinson said.
Paying tribute to Dr FitzGerald’s role in establishing a serious official programme of aid to the developing world, she said he would also be concerned today about climate change. “I like to think, and genuinely believe, he would approve of the innovative way the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice is addressing climate justice issues.”
Lord Paul Bew paid tribute to “Garret’s openness, intellectual vivacity, engagement and willingness to debate”.
Although Lord Bew disagreed with the Anglo-Irish Agreement, he said Dr FitzGerald was the only person “with sufficient charm, integrity, honesty and decency” to persuade Margaret Thatcher it was the right thing to do.
Journalist Olivia O’Leary said Dr FitzGerald was “fascinated by the potential of democratic politics, not its limitations. He thought big, with a sense of vision that I have met in no other Irish politician. Everything he did made us bigger,” she said.
He had worked harder at the Anglo-Irish Agreement than anything else in his political career. “This agreement, which gave the Irish government for the first time a consultative role in Northern Ireland affairs, he saw as the greatest legacy he could leave us, and indeed it was.
“Because the truce, the peace process, the good relationship between prime ministers and taoisigh, the wonderful and historic visit by the Queen last year, all these were built on the solid foundation of officials and politicians intent on a common goal of peaceful progress.”
The big challenge now, and one that Dr FitzGerald would be pointing to, was “real engagement” with Northern Ireland because, with the recession, “both jurisdictions have turned back on themselves”.
Urging greater cross-Border co-operation, Ms O’Leary said: “If Northern Ireland has taught us anything, it has taught us how fragile peace and democracy are.”
The conference, co-sponsored by The Irish Times, continues today at Newman House.
