Taoiseach Michael Martin and President Michael D.Higgins have expressed their condolences following the death of the former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael O’Kennedy.
The Fianna Fáil politician was 86 and took on a variety of political roles throughout his lifetime.
As well as terms in the (DAFM) and the Department of Transport, the former minister also served as a European Commissioner, TD for Tipperary north and Senator between the years 1965 and 2002.
In a statement, the Taoiseach said: “I want to express my deepest sympathies to the O’Kennedy family at this very difficult time, especially to his wife Breda and children Brian, Orla and Mary.
“Few people have left such a rich, or long, political legacy, or dedicated so much to Irish public life. I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing.
“A man of great integrity and friendly demeanour, Michael had a front row seat for the formative years of modern Ireland.”
Minister Martin recalled that O’Kennedy was a senior counsel and said he had “a keen legal mind, and brought great wit, intelligence and determination to several ministerial roles spanning three decades”.
“This experience was crucial whether serving as Minister for Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Labour, Transport, Economic Planning and Development, or Public Service,” said the Taoiseach.
O’Kennedy was also a parliamentary colleague of the President of Ireland. President Higgins spoke of his sadness at hearing the news this week.
“Michael O’Kennedy served the Irish people at home and abroad in a number of capacities and always with distinction,” he said.
Over the course of his 37 year career in politics, O’Kennedy served as a senator between 1993 to 1997. The former minister the n went on to serve as a strong voice for Ireland on the international stage, as European Commissioner in the early 1980s, before returning to the Dáil to serve his beloved Tipperary north once again.