The funeral of Martin Mansergh, politician and adviser on Northern Ireland to three Fianna Fáil taoisigh, is to be held in Co Tipperary.
Mr Mansergh died in Morocco last week. His remains will be brought to a reception service in St Mary’s Church, Tipperary town at 7pm on Sunday.
His funeral service will take place in St Mary’s on Monday at 11am followed by a private burial.
Having served in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mansergh left the Civil Service to join Charles Haughey as an adviser on Northern Ireland and Anglo-Irish matters when Haughey was taoiseach.
READ MORE
He remained with Haughey during his years in opposition, serving as Fianna Fáil’s director of research and policy. During this time, he edited a book of Haughey speeches, entitled Spirit of the Nation.
He returned to government with Haughey in 1987 and served in a similar capacity for Albert Reynolds and later Bertie Ahern. He was a key figure in the peace process that eventually led to the IRA ceasefires and the Belfast Agreement.
In 2002, after more than two decades as a back room adviser, he entered electoral politics for Fianna Fáil, standing for the Dáil in his ancestral home of Tipperary South. He was unsuccessful but was later elected to the Seanad, and in 2007, took a Dáil seat for the party.
He was appointed a minister of State in 2008 and served in several departments until Fianna Fáil was ejected from office in 2011, when he lost his seat.
A member of an Anglo-Irish family who held land in Tipperary since the Cromwellian plantation, Mr Mansergh was born in England. His father Nicholas, who was one the foremost historians of his day, wrote an influential book called The Irish Question.
