FORMER PRESIDENT OF Ireland Mary McAleese has paid tribute to political figure Mary O’Rourke, who died yesterday aged 87.

O’Rourke, a well known commentator, had served in multiple Ministerial posts and was a stalwart of Fianna Fáil. 

McAleese told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that O’Rourke was adored by her family, and was always a kind friend.

“I’ve known her very long time and always found her, although she was a leading light and politically, not just for women, but a leading light politically generally, she had a great capacity for friendship,” said McAleese.

She said O’Rourke was the first person she told when she was considering running for the presidency in 1997 and that O’Rourke was “so full of encouragement”.

McAleese described O’Rourke as “an iconic person”, not just in politics, but for women – “women who were not used to seeing women like her at the level of politics at which she operated”.

‘Wobblies’

“Life threw an awful lot of wobblies at Mary over the years,” said McAleese.

“She had come, as you know, from a very political family, but nothing came at her in straight lines.”

O’Rourke’s father Patrick served as a TD, while her brother Brian Lenihan served as a Minister and Tánaiste. She was the aunt of Brian Lenihan Junior and Conor Lenihan – both of whom were Government Ministers. 

She was first elected for the Longford-Westmeath constituency in 1982 and appointed education minister in 1987.

She moved to the Department of Health in 1991 and was demoted by then-Taoiseach.

In 2002, the year after her husband Enda’s death, she lost her Dáil seat.

O’Rourke “had to take that on the chin”, said McAleese. 

“She said afterwards she was devastated, but if she was, she never let that show publicly. She just accepted it. And on she went and kept on working,” said McAleese.

She also lost her brother Brian.

“She never, ever made a special case for herself,” said McAleese.

“She never, ever went out looking for sympathy.”

Tributes

Other notable figures have also paid tribute to O’Rourke, with Taoiseach Simon Harris describing her as a “deft operator”, with a “magnetic personality”.

President Michael D Higgins said she is “a deeply committed politician dedicated to serving the public”.

Conor Linehan, former TD and nephew of O’Rourke said he felt like “a third son” to her.

He said her death felty quite sudden as he’d seen her only last week in the nursing home and she was “in good form”.

She had “a fabulous retirement”, still writing and reading the newspapers every day.

O’Rourke worked as a secondary school teacher before she began her political career.

“She used to bring students home for lunch and dinners to give them extra tuition,” said Linehan.

“She was a really committed teacher.”

He added that O’Rourke is a great example of the contribution that the teaching profession has made in public life in Ireland.