LIAM COADY, the driver and long time personal friend of Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, died suddenly in London on Friday evening.

Cody, 64, was holidaying in London with friends and is believed to have died of natural causes.

Coady was a Castlebar Town Councillor and also served as Chairman of Castlebar Urban District Council during that time. He was a joint proprietor with his brother Adrian of Coady’s Bar and Funeral Directors, Linenhall Street, Castlebar, before taking up his position with Fine Gael.

He was a well-known friend and confidant of Deputy Kenny. The Castlebar native supported Kenny through the recent Fine Gael heave, and was also friendly with Kenny’s late father Henry.

A spokeswoman for Fine Gael said it came as a great shock to Kenny and the party:

Liam was a much-loved figure around Leinster House, he was loved by anyone who met him. He went everywhere with Enda and could always be seen in the background, they were very good friends and went back a long way and went back a long way.

Last night tributes were paid to Coady by party members from across the country. Cork-based councillor John Buttimer described him as “a true gentleman with a great sense of life and wit. A real loss.”

Liam Cody is survived by his wife Kathleen, daughter Regina and her husband Declan Sweeny.