JOHN GORMLEY:DR PATRICK Hillery "was a true statesman and he is a role model for all of us who work in public life", Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley said.
"My abiding boyhood memory of him dates from those television images of his party's conference in 1971 when he gave full public vent to the anger so rarely seen from this quiet Clare man," he said.
"Candid television shots of turbulent political gatherings are not so rare nowadays but four decades ago they were novel indeed and the . . . dramatic RTÉ footage of Patrick Hillery stays etched in the minds of many of us today."
It "is for those turbulent times in the early 1970s, when Patrick Hillery stood rock solid beside Jack Lynch, that we owe him our primary debt of gratitude. The courage of people like Patrick Hillery saved many lives on this island. It is as stark and as simple as that," said Mr Gormley.
"Fear ciúin séimh ab ea Pádraig Ó hIrighile, but like many quiet people, he was not to be underestimated." His "low-key approach masked a steely determination. As EEC commissioner he faced down his own government over the need to promptly implement equal pay for women," he said.
"In many ways he was the quintessential Clare person, modest and mild of manner but with intellect, knowledge, talents and skills, and all that accompanied with an abundance of courage."
Dr Hillery "possessed a strong ethos of public service", in all his roles, from medical doctor, government minister, European commissioner and president.
