Liam Burke: Liam Burke, who has died aged 77, was a former Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central. A shrewd grassroots politician, he survived political setbacks and bouts of ill-health to bounce back into the Dáil after twice losing his seat.
Known locally to some as the "silver fox" because of his canny political abilities, he was a friend of James Dillon and served under four Fine Gael leaders - Liam Cosgrave, Garret FitzGerald, Alan Dukes and John Bruton. His uncle, Tadhg Manley, was a Fine Gael deputy for Cork South from 1954 to 1961.
Liam Burke's political career began in 1967, when he was elected to Cork Corporation. He was elected to the Dáil in 1969 and retained his seat at the next election in 1973. But he was a victim of the Fianna Fáil landslide in 1977, and lost his seat when he was only 42 days short of a Dáil pension.
He was elected to the Seanad, and his chance to return to the Dáil came in a by-election in November 1979. He took to the campaign with gusto, pressing the flesh, and cleverly exploiting the disillusionment which had set in with Jack Lynch's government. He was re-elected to the Dáil in one of two Cork by-elections which Fianna Fáil lost, paving the way for the end of Lynch's leadership.
He served until 1989, when Máirín Quill of the Progressive Democrats beat him by just 89 votes. He returned to the Seanad, bided his time, and regained his seat in 1992 by a margin of 14 votes.
He wanted to retire from politics in 1997, but was persuaded by the party to run again, which he did successfully. He retired at the 2002 election.
A high point of his political career was his election as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1984. During his term, he threatened to resign because of the FG-Labour government's failure to provide funding for the Cork-Swansea ferry, but the controversy was defused when £500,000 was allocated.
The same year, Liam Burke underwent a quadruple bypass, followed five years later by an angioplasty and subsequently a triple bypass. "That means my heart has been bypassed 10 times," he once quipped.
Liam Burke kept a low profile in the Dáil, but when he intervened in debates he could be quite forceful. In 1995, he claimed that he had been subjected to abusive phone calls for speaking out against drug pushing in Cork city. "You speak out publicly against these people and their trade at your peril, as I can personally attest," he declared.
Liam Burke is survived by his wife, Noreen, and their daughters, Catherine and Emma.
Liam Burke, born February 1928; died August 21st, 2005