John Bailey, the Fine Gael councillor and former chairman of the Dublin GAA County Board, has died. He was 74.
Mr Bailey was said to have died overnight following recent illness. He had motor neuron disease.
He was returned as a councillor for the Dun Laoghaire electoral area of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, with 1,504 first preference votes in the local elections last May.
He was first elected to the council in 2004, and has been returned at every election since.
He also ran for the Dáil in the Dun Laoghaire constituency in the 2002 and 2007 general elections but did not win a seat.
His daughter Maria Bailey successfully contested the 2016 general election and is a Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire. She had also served on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council since 2004, when she was elected in the Ballybrack ward.
Mr Bailey lived in Killiney, south Dublin, and was a prominent member of the local Cuala GAA club. He was born and reared in Dalkey.
He was chairman of the Dublin County Board for ten years and was central to the redevelopment of Parnell Park.
In a statement, Cuala said its members “will be saddened to learn of the death of club and county stalwart John Bailey”.
“John served ten years as Chairman of the Dublin GAA County Board. During his tenure he initiated the re development of Parnell Park and significant investment in promoting juvenile participation in Hurling, Camogie and Football.
“He served as an inter county referee for a number of years and during that time he refereed the 1986 All-Ireland Senior hurling final between Cork and Galway.
“He went on to be involved in mentoring under-age teams in both club and county including the U16 Hurling championship winning team in 2004.
“He later became involved in local politics as a member of the Fine Gael party. Earlier this year John was honored with the Cuala President’s Award for his commitment and service to Gaelic games in both Cual and Dublin.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife Angela and his daughters Suzanne, Elaine, Joanna, Maria and Alison. Ar dheis Dé go raimh a Anam dílis.”
Club chairman Damian McKeown said Mr Bailey was a “great friend of Cuala and Dublin GAA”.
“He will be missed by all Dublin GAA fans and remembered for pushing through the redevelopment of Parnell Park.”
Mr Bailey's remains will lie in repose at Quinn's funeral home in Glasthule from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on Thursday, July 11th, with removal to the Church of Assumption, Dalkey at 5.30pm on Friday.
His funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, July 13th, at 10am, followed by burial afterwards at Deans Grange cemetery.
