HE IS probably the only economist in Ireland who refuses to speak about the current financial crisis.
The man who was instrumental in getting Ireland to join the IMF and the World Bank, and played a central role in moving the economy from protectionism and near bankruptcy to free enterprise, liberalisation of trade, and foreign direct investment, has no interest in advising the Government today.
In fact, Thomas Kenneth Whitaker, the renowned civil servant and subject of a biographical documentary on TG4 tonight, insisted on two conditions before agreeing to the project: he would not discuss the current crisis; and the documentary had to be made in Irish.
He joined the Civil Service as a clerical officer, coming first in Ireland in the exam. By the time he was 20 he was secretary to the minister for finance. He became the youngest secretary general of the Department of Finance, when appointed aged 39 in 1956, and subsequently became governor of the Central Bank.
Dr Whitaker was voted by the public as Ireland's greatest living person at the 2002 ESB/Rehab People of the Year Awards for his role in shaping Irish economic development. As secretary general in the Department of Finance for 13 years, he drew up the document Programme for Economic Developmentthat would dictate development in Ireland for decades.
Dr Whitaker says then taoiseach Seán Lemass knew things had to change and Éamon de Valera recognised that Lemass would be better at those things than himself.
As the economic changes were implemented, however, de Valera remained unimpressed. “He said to me: ‘Tá obair mhaith déanta agat ach tá rudaí níos tábhachtaigh’ [You’ve done good work but there are more important things]”. This was a reference to de Valera’s dream of a Gaelic, simpler Ireland.
Dr Whitaker, who was born in Rostrevor, Co Down, in 1916 and raised in Drogheda, also played a role in the Republic’s relationship with the North, advising then taoiseach Jack Lynch to reject any demands for military intervention in the North.
He also drafted Lynch’s famous speech in 1969 when the principle of consent was first espoused. “He abandoned one of the core principles of Fianna Fáil of unification by whatever means possible,” says Dr Whitaker, of a move that divided the party.
TK Whitaker – Seirbhíseach an Stáit (Servant of the State)is broadcast on TG4 at 8.15 pm tonight.
