Former president of Irish Republic
Patrick Hillery, 84, Irish president from 1976 to 1990, died Saturday at a Dublin hospice after a short, undisclosed illness, the government announced.
As foreign minister, Hillery negotiated Ireland’s 1973 entry to the future European Union and became the first Irish member of the European executive arm. He then served two full terms as president, Ireland’s symbolic head of state, and ran unopposed both times -- an unprecedented concession that reflected his cross-party popularity.
Leaders from all parties lauded Hillery as an exceptionally impartial and ethical politician, who confronted anti-British extremism and poor ethical standards within his own party, Fianna Fail.
Hillery, the son of a doctor and a nurse, was born in western County Clare in 1923 in the immediate wake of Ireland’s bloody war of independence from Britain.
He studied medicine at University College Dublin and became a doctor but turned to politics when his fellow Clareman, Fianna Fail founder and Prime Minister Eamon de Valera, recruited him to be his parliamentary running mate in their home county.
Hillery represented Clare in Ireland’s parliament, Dail Eireann, from 1951 to 1973. After de Valera resigned as prime minister in 1959, Hillery won promotion to Cabinet and oversaw four government departments, including education, industry and labor, before becoming president.
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