BRUTON WAS A
Tributes from family to beloved dad & husband after passing aged 76 Ex-fine Gael leader remembered for CAB, divorce legislation & peace
THE death of former Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader John Bruton was announced yesterday following a long illness.
The 76-year-old’s legacy includes the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau in 1996 following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, as well as the legalisation of divorce.
In a statement issued by the Bruton family through the Fine Gael press office, it was confirmed that Mr Bruton died in hospital yesterday morning.
They said: “It is with deep sadness we wish to announce the death of former Taoiseach John Bruton. He died peacefully in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, surrounded by his loving family, early this morning following a long illness.
“He was a good husband, a good father and a true patriot. We will miss him greatly.”
The former Taoiseach’s brother Richard Bruton is a Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay North and a former minister.
John was born in Dunboyne, Co Meath, in May 1947. He graduated from University College Dublin, before qualifying as a barrister from King’s Inns.
Mr Bruton’s career in Leinster House spanned 35 years and saw him assume a range of offices throughout the Oireachtas. He was first elected as a TD for Meath in 1969 at the age of 22.
Following a spell in several Government departments, he was elected leader of Fine Gael in 1990.
He served as Taoiseach between 1994 and 1997 and was the head of the historic Rainbow Coalition government consisting of Fine Gael, Labour and the Democratic Left.
The Labour Party had been in government with Fianna Fail following the 1992 general election but the government collapsed two years later after several controversies.
Instead of going to the polls, Dick Spring’s
Labour joined forces with Fine Gael and the Democratic Left and Mr Bruton became the youngest ever Taoiseach at the age of 47 in December 1994.
After becoming Taoiseach, one of Mr Bruton’s first policy initiatives was to call for a referendum to change the constitution and allow for couples to divorce in Ireland. The country voted by a slim margin to end its ban on divorce in the 1995 referendum.
Mr Bruton’s government set up the Criminal Assets Bureau in 1996 following the murders of journalist Veronica Guerin and Detective Garda Jerry Mccabe.
Speaking the day after Ms Guerin’s murder in June 1996, Mr Bruton said the
FAMILY STATEMENT
government was “intensifying its efforts to change administrative and legal procedures in our State so that we can deal more effectively than we have been able to deal to date with organised crime”.
He told the Dail: “Nobody is untouchable, nobody who orders a crime in a democratic society can be allowed to be untouchable and nobody will be allowed to be untouchable.
“Organised crime is a different phenomenon qualitatively from the type of crime we have had to deal with in the past. It needs a qualitative change in the way we do our business.”
Mr Bruton’s role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland both before and after his tenure in the Taoiseach’s office has been widely praised. In February 1995, he launched the Anglo-irish Framework Document with then-uk Prime Minister John Major.
This outlined new proposed relations between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain as the Troubles raged in the North.
He was critical of the British government’s reluctance to work with Sinn Fein and he established a relationship with Gerry Adams.
He was also Taoiseach during the first official visit of a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland when King Charles, then-prince of Wales, came here in 1995.
He served two terms as minister for finance between 1981 and 1982 and again from 1986 to 1987. He held the portfolio during a period of deep financial instability and controversy in Ireland.
The Fine-gael/labour government collapsed in 1982 after Mr Bruton’s budget was defeated in the Dail following the controversial proposal to introduce VAT on children’s shoes.
Mr Bruton also served as industry and energy minister and commerce and tourism minister.
Following the defeat of Fine Gael to Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fail in the 1997 general election, Mr Bruton remained leader of his party until 2001 before handing over the reins to Michael
Noonan. He resigned as a TD in November 2004.
He accepted an offer to become the European Union’s ambassador to the US from 2004 to 2009.
He later put himself forward for the Presidency of the European Council in 2009 but was defeated by Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian Prime Minister.
He became Chairman of the IFSC from 2010 to 2015, but ruled himself out of running for Aras an Uachtarain in 2011.
Mr Bruton is survived by his wife, Finola, son Matthew and daughters Juliana, Emily and Mary-elizabeth.
A State funeral is expected to be held later this week.