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FORMER CORK TD and Minister of State Bernard Allen has died at the age of 79.
A former Fine Gael junior minister, Allen was first elected to the Dáil in 1981 and held his Cork North Central seat until he retired from politics in 2011.
His time in the Dáil followed a 16-year career in local politics with the Cork Corporation. He also served as Lord Mayor of Cork.
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has expressed his condolences.
“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of Bernard Allen,” he said.
He described him as “a pillar of his community, whose dedication and loyalty to the people he served were unmatched”.
“Bernard was a man with endless reserves of wisdom and wit, who knew the perfect time to deploy the right amount of either. He was a beloved colleague in Fine Gael and beyond, a proud Corkman and a good friend.
“To his wife Marie, their children, Lorraine, Audrey and Deirdre, my deepest sympathy at this very difficult time.
“May he rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”
Minister of State and TD for Cork North Central, Colm Burke shared also expressed his condolences, saying that Cork had lost “a most accomplished public representative whose main focus and priority in all of his political career was to look after the interests of his constituents in Cork North Central”.
“Bernard was a true advocate for all the people he represented.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he was “saddened” to hear of Bernard Allen’s passing and expressed his condolences to his family.
“Bernard and I got on very well,” Martin said.
“We enjoyed the cut and thrust of local and national politics and worked together on a bipartisan level.
“He put the interests of Cork first, whether in the Council or in the Dáil during his 30 years as a TD.
“A very popular Lord Mayor of Cork, Bernard was a tenacious chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and an effective Minister for Youth and Sport – a portfolio he loved.”
“May” be pursued?
Should be hounded!
@Michael Kavanagh: indeed. And points on his licence.
@John Moylan:
Yup.
Railway points – and he has to carry them!
@John Moylan: I think a minimum ban of three months – he also drove on the wrong side of the road, and without due care and attention. It should be a dangerous driving charge by right.
I’ve noticed an increase in the amount of plonkers who decide to stop in a yellow box on Irish roads.
@Luke Lee: agree, in the Uk they have cameras on yellow boxes. Drivers who stop in the yellow box are recorded & a fix fine is imposed.
There is a yellow box there for a reason….ya big eej1t
Must have been a cyclist driving…only cyclists don’t stop at red lights.
@Vincent Harris: ha good one
@Vincent Harris: ha
@Vincent Harris: Incorrect. A MAJORITY of cyclists don’t stop at red lights.
@MK76: have you figures or statistics to back that up? In the recent Luas report into emergency stops motorists were by far and away the biggest single cause of the Luas emergency brakes bring applied.
What a dope.
@Paul Furey: man murdered someone and is fighting against how he was convicted?!! Sorry what?!!
As much of a tool as the lorry driver is “significant delays” surely all it takes is a couple of flag men to man the crossing until the barrier is repaired no?
@BAINNE ATHA CLIATH: Did you see that lorry hit the barrier? Would you want to be the one standing there with a flag?
@BAINNE ATHA CLIATH: unfortunately there is microswitches to ensure that all barriers are intact and also fully lowered, missing one will not allow the signals to clear and thus even with flagman the train has to be given authority to pass the signal at red at a snails pace this the knock on effect
The 2 monsters beside this story… Christ
egit…….
I think he thought it was a backstop
@Earl of Daventry: This place can be so vile at times. No wonder they close the comments, especially when dealing with legal issues.
Could have killed someone.
@LYNDALAND: yes – escaping by swerving onto the wrong side of the road in the face of oncoming traffic….hugely dangerous driving that is becoming everyday in Dublin in recent years
There were three clowns in the yellow box.
Imbecile
@Rory Mahon: if he had two brains he’d be twice as thick.
Special Kind of Stupid
This has never happened before..
Oh wait it has..
Put the Dart underground, problem solved.
Funny
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