This article is from page 14 of the 2011-09-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE statesmanship shown by Clare president Dr Paddy Hillery in times of crisis has been held up by Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell as the template for his style of presidency should he succeed in becoming the ninth incumbant in Áras an Uachtaráin.
Speaking to The Clare People on Thursday during his first visit to the county since being selected to contest the November 27 presidential election poll, Mr Mitchell hailed Dr Hillery political courage during his 14-year stint in office from 1976 to 1990.
Dr Hillery took office following the constitutional crisis sparked by his the decision by his predecessor Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh to refer the Emergency Powers Act to the Supreme Court, which prompted the Fine Gael Minister for Defence Paddy Donegan to label him “a thundering disgrace”.
President Ó Dálaigh resigned in the fall-out from these remarks, and now 35 years later Mr Mitchell, who is bidding to become the first ever Fine Gael president, used his visit to Clare to highlight the crucial role the Spanish Point man played in restoring the honour of the presidency in the wake of the crisis that rocked the office.
“I’m not just saying this because I’m in Clare,” Mr Mitchell said during his visit to Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon.
“I’ve said this a lot of times. Dr Hillery restored the presidency after the resignation of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh.
“And when his own party came looking for him (in January 1982) not to grant a dissolution of the Dáil to the government of the day, he had the experience and the integrity to stand up to that pressure.
“The president is an important person in terms of the independence of the office. The president is like the sentry in the box. Those are the qualities I will bring to the office. I am an independent soul. I made it very clear that I want the support of more than Fine Gael – I need that. I want to reach out to all of the community not just Fine Gael. I need to do that,” he added.