TWO-TIME FORMER TAOISEACH Garret FitzGerald is ‘gravely ill’ in hospital, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed.
Speaking in New York, Kenny said his predecessor as Fine Gael leader was on a ventilator, and offered his thoughts for FitzGerald and his family.
“Ireland does not deserve to lose such an institution,” he said. “I say a prayer for his health and wellbeing.”
FitzGerald, 85, was the Taoiseach of two leading inter-party governments with Labour – between June 1981 and March 1982, and again between December 1982 and March 1987.
His time in office saw him memorably spar with then-Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey for a decade, and also saw him negotiate the Anglo-Irish Agreement with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985.
A TD for the constituency of Dublin South East for 23 years, retiring in 1992, FitzGerald has also been a senator, and more recently had served as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say