Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh: Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh, who has died aged 92, was the private secretary to President Éamon de Valera for his two terms in Áras an Uachtaráin and served in the same post for his three successors, Erskine Childers, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and Dr Patrick Hillery.
He was thus in a unique position to observe and influence the evolution of the presidency within its constitutional constraints.
He was also an acknowledged scholar and expert in the Irish language, of which he was a native speaker. His work in that area still survives in the magazine, Comhar.
He was born on November 11th, 1912, in the townland of An Caorán Mór, a townland near Carraroe on the western seaboard. His parents were small farmers and native Irish speakers. After attending primary school at An Ard Thír near Carna, he received secondary education in St Jarlath's College, Tuam, and at Garbally College.
He then went to University College Galway, where he specialised in Irish-language studies and was awarded a BA and an MA. While there he promoted the use of Irish among his fellow students and founded An Comhchaidreamh which organised inter-varsity debates in Irish and other activities. He founded Comhar to encourage Irish-language journalism.
He also spent a year at Bangor University, where he learned Welsh and studied other Celtic languages.
He applied for a post in the Civil Service and obtained first place in Ireland in the junior administrative examination. His first posting was to the then Department of External Affairs. De Valera was both taoiseach and minister for external affairs. Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh's proficiency in Irish may have brought him to his minister's attention at a time when the new Fianna Fáil government was intent on promoting the language in all sectors of the public service.
He met his future wife, Máire, through her brother Tomás de Bhaldraithe, famous for his work on an Irish-language dictionary. They were married in 1942 and had five children.
After a spell in External Affairs, he transferred to the Department of Education where he was to serve until 1959. He was appointed by the cabinet to be private secretary to the presidency when de Valera was elected president in 1959.
The official biography by the Earl of Longford and Thomas P. O'Neill states: "The post of secretary was soon filled by Máirtín Ó Flatharta (sic), de Valera's private secretary many years before."
In those days, the staff at the Áras was very small, so there would have been a heavy workload on the private secretary. He was deeply involved, for example, in the visit of President Kennedy in 1963 and that of General de Gaulle after his sudden retirement in 1969. There were also several overseas trips by the president, which required much organisation.
The president also liked to keep in close touch with the political scene and frequently met ministers on an individual basis to hear about their work. His private secretary would be the intermediary and especially at times of crisis, such as when Kevin Boland went to the Áras intending to resign as minister over Jack Lynch's handling of the Northern Ireland situation in August 1969.
It was noted that Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh was among the cabinet members and Fianna Fáil TDs, senators and supporters who flocked to Dublin Airport in October 1970 to welcome Jack Lynch back from a trip to the United Nations in New York.
It was during this trip that Charles Haughey, following his acquittal in the Arms Trial, had called on Lynch to resign. The presence of President de Valera's private secretary among the huge Fianna Fáil turnout was taken as an indication that the Áras was also fully behind the beleaguered taoiseach.
After de Valera's retirement in June 1973, he continued to serve as private secretary to his successor Erskine Childers, who found the limits of the office very frustrating and died suddenly in 1974. His successor, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, resigned in 1976 over an insult from the minister for defence, Paddy Donegan, and was succeeded without an election campaign by Dr Patrick Hillery. The private secretary was able to provide some continuity during those unprecedented changes of president.
He retired himself in August 1978.
Those who knew Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh remarked on his lively sense of humour. He also liked to sing traditional sean-nós airs. Once in his younger days when singing at a function, he was somewhat dismayed to see that de Valera got up to leave, but was later assured that this had nothing to do with his performance.
He loved reading and had an extensive library. He was very interested in the history of the early church.
At his funeral Mass his niece, Máire Ní Fhlathartaigh, read the following prayer: "Gabhaimid buíochas leat, a Dhia, as an ngean dá dhúchas agus dá mhuintir a chothaigh tú i Máirtín. Ba spreagadh dúinn ar fad a dhílseacht do theanga agus do chultúr a shinsear i bparóiste an Chillín agus san Aird Thiar i gCarna. Is bearna in ár saol a imeacht uainn, agus iarraimid sólás dá chlann. A Thiarna éist linn."
He is survived by his daughters: Donla, Eithne, Aighleann and Rionach, and his son Colm.
Máirtín Ó Flathartaigh: born November 11th, 1912; died March 13th, 2005