Patrick Hillery, 84; president of Ireland ran unopposed twice
DUBLIN - Former president Patrick Hillery of Ireland died yesterday at age 84 and will receive a full state funeral, the government announced.
Mr. Hillery died in a Dublin hospice after a short, undisclosed illness, the government said.
As foreign minister, Mr. Hillery negotiated Ireland's 1973 entry to the future European Union. He served two terms as president, Ireland's largely symbolic head of state, and ran unopposed both times - an unprecedented concession that reflected his cross-party popularity.
Leaders from all parties lauded Mr. Hillery as an exceptionally impartial and ethical politician who confronted anti-British extremism and poor ethical standards within his own party, Fianna Fail.
"He was a man of great integrity, decency, and intelligence. He contributed massively to the progress of our country, and he is assured of an honored place in Ireland's history," said Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who leads Fianna Fail today.
Former prime minister Garret Fitzgerald from the rival Fine Gael party praised Mr. Hillery as "one of the most constructive politicians we've had in the last half century."
Mr. Hillery, the son of a doctor and a nurse, was born in western County Clare in 1923 immediately following Ireland's bloody war of independence from Britain.
He studied medicine at University College Dublin and became a doctor, but turned to politics when Fianna Fail founder and Prime Minister Eamon de Valera - also from Clare - recruited him to be his parliamentary running mate in their home county.
Mr. Hillery represented Clare in Ireland's parliament, Dail Eireann, from 1951 to 1973. After de Valera resigned as prime minister in 1959, Mr. Hillery won promotion to the Cabinet and oversaw four government departments, including education, industry, and labor.
He is best known in some quarters for his fiery denunciation of Irish Republican Army sympathizers at the Fianna Fail conference in 1971. The party was deeply divided because former government colleagues had been expelled from the Cabinet after allegedly conspiring to ship weapons to a newly born IRA in the British territory of Northern Ireland.
When a leading Fianna Fail rebel, Kevin Boland, took control behind the speaker's podium and party hard-liners began chanting "We want Boland!", Mr. Hillery wrestled away the microphone. That defining moment was repeatedly rebroadcast yesterday on Irish national radio.
Mr. Hillery, normally a soft-spoken man, shouted at Boland's supporters that they were backing "the enemies of Fianna Fail! . . . You can have Boland - but you can't have Fianna Fail!"
Mr. Hillery negotiated Ireland's entry to the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union, alongside Britain in 1973. He then became Ireland's first member of the European Commission.
In 1976, Fianna Fail pulled him back from Brussels to become president.
He retired in 1990.
Mr. Hillery leaves his wife, Maeve, and a son, John, who is also a doctor.
No details on his burial were announced.
