Death of former minister, Mary O'Rourke

Public representative for Longford-Westmeath for four decades

Mary O'Rourke, the former Westmeath Fianna Fáil TD and minister, has died at the age of 87.

In a post on his Facebook page, her son, Aengus, an Athlone county councillor, said: "It is with great personal sadness and with a very heavy heart that I share with you the news that my mother Mary passed away peacefully this afternoon. May she Rest In Peace."

Ms O'Rourke was a member of the political Lenihan family. Her father, PJ, brother, Brian, and nephews, Conor and Brian, were all Dail deputies. She served as Minister for Education, and Minister for State for Public Enterprise, amongst other positions.

She was first elected to the Dáil in the Longford-Westmeath constituency in November 1982 and would go on to serve as Minister for Education, Health and Public Enterprise over the course of a political career spanning four decades.

She was deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2002.

The first as Minister for Education under Charlie Haughey in 1987, and then Minister for Health in 1991. In 1997 then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern appointed her deputy leader of the party, and Minister for Public Enterprise.

Before entering politics, Ms O'Rourke had worked as a teacher.

President Michael D Higgins says: “It is with great sorrow that so many of her friends, colleagues and former constituents will have learned of the death of Mary O’Rourke.

"Mary and so many members of her family – including her father PJ Lenihan, brothers Brian and Paddy, nephews Brian and Conor, and son Aengus – have made a distinguished contribution, and at the highest level, to Irish political life.

"Mary had a shrewd and magnetic approach to politics and politicians. As a Minister, Minister of State, Leader of the Seanad, TD, Senator and Councillor, Mary O’Rourke was a deeply committed politician dedicated to serving the public."

President Higgins said the warmth of Ms O'Rourke's personality was reflected in the wide appreciation held for Mary amongst both the public and her fellow members of the Oireachtas, and was respected in her continuing and wide-ranging engagement with so many parts of public life in the years following her political career. She will be much missed by many both in her native Athlone and beyond.

"May I extend my deepest sympathies to Mary’s sons Aengus and Feargal, to her grandchildren, and to all of her many colleagues and friends. Síocháin siorraí le a h-anam.”