Madam, – As a Masters student in NUI Galway, I had the honour of meeting the late Dr FitzGerald after an event hosted by the Literary and Debating Society in 2008. I found him to be a man of great sincerity and wit, and imbued with sense of destiny. Together with two others, I listened to him for three hours and he told us that, as young people, we should not feel disillusioned with Irish politics and we should never be afraid to take our place, as he did, in the ranks of those who shape our national destiny. He told us, quite simply, that we had the ability to change history.
I write these words after what were, perhaps, the most important four days in the history of our nation. Dr FitzGerald, regrettably, was not able to enjoy these fruits of a peace and understanding between Ireland and the United Kingdom that resulted from the process that he set in motion, and that manifested from Her Majesty’s visit. As a postgraduate history student at TCD, I know that his frequent presence at our contemporary Irish history seminars was always appreciated, and shall be greatly missed. May he rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is refreshing to hear the recent contributions by all sections of the media and by all sides of the political divide in regard to the recent passing of former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. Where it was once a badge of honour to be known to be capable of an odd stroke and to turn a blind eye, all sides now acknowledge Dr FitzGerald’s integrity, fairness and probity. Perhaps we might turn a corner in this country if the values held so dear by the former taoiseach were to be replicated in public life and beyond. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Enough already. It would seem that we are about to beatify Garret the Good, if not actually canonise him.
Need I mention the “miracle” of his getting AIB to write off 200,000 punts of debt, or is that a truth too far? I doubt it’s flawed reasoning. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Despite the many tributes to Garret FitzGerald, his chancellorship of the National University of Ireland (1997-2008) has not been given the significance it deserves. For him it was not an honorary post, but a new opportunity to promote the academic values that had powerfully shaped his own career, and to help an institution, now embattled, but which, as he wrote in his foreword to its centenary volume, “is closely linked with and to an extent mirrors the evolution of the Irish State”.
Throughout his years in politics and later as an influential commentator and elder statesman, he maintained close links with the university, and particularly his beloved UCD. He had a passionate sense of “the National” as a community of shared values, and had major concerns that the imposition of a business model, and the new intense competition between the constituent universities, would undermine this. Those of us privileged to serve on the NUI Senate with him marvelled at his infectious enthusiasm, his grasp of detail and his unfailing courtesy and good humour, but what marked his chancellorship, above all, was his commitment to academic standards, and his determination to develop a meaningful role for the National University in changed circumstances. Far from being a politician thrust into a university role in his retirement, he was, throughout, an academic who undertook a series of political roles, and brought to them a rare intelligence and humanity, exemplifying what Newman envisaged in his Idea of a University. – Yours, etc,