Former senior civil servant and businessman Pádraig Ó hUiginn has died aged 94.
A former secretary-general at the department of the taoiseach during times of significant political turbulence, Mr Ó hUiginn died on Wednesday "joyously, still optimistic and telling stories", according to his death notice.
Mr Ó hUiginn served under three taoisigh – Charles Haughey, who is said to have regarded him as his favourite civil servant, Garret FitzGerald and Albert Reynolds.
He later worked in business, becoming a member of the Customs House Docks Development Authority. He was also on the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, was managing director of An Foras Forbartha and chairman of Bord Fáilte.
During his time in the department of the taoiseach, Mr Ó hUiginn was a key advisor and witnessed much of the behind-the-scenes goings on during Mr Haughey’s scandal-ridden 1982 government, his successor Dr FitzGerald’s successful negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) and his successor in turn’s negotiation of the Downing Street Declaration (1993) – all of them paving the way to the Belfast Agreement.
Regarded as an able administrator, he retired in 1993 to concentrate on a business career during which he became close to, and was much admired by, businessman Denis O’Brien.
In early 1994, Mr O’Brien made Mr Ó hUiginn a director Esat Telecom, the company that won the second mobile telephone licence a year later.
The esteem in which Mr O’Brien held Mr Ó hUiginn was evident when the telecoms magnate and developer of Canada House, on the corner of St Stephen’s Green and Earlsfort Terrace, erected a plaque on the building in Mr Ó hUiginn’s honour.
It asserted that Mr Ó hUiginn’s “sole purpose was the advancement of Ireland” which the plaque maintained he pursued with “patriotism, passion and compassion”.
Mr Ó hUiginnwent to St Finbarr’s College in Cork and obtained an MSC (in economics and social planning) from the University of Edinburgh, MSC.
In the civil service, he served variously in the Departments of the Environment, Industry & Commerce, Lands and Economic Planning and Development, as well as the Taoiseach’s department.
He was also Economic Affairs Officer, UN Economic Commission (Geneva), Officer-in-Charge of Housing, Planning and Building at UN Headquarters (New York); formerly Director for Regional Policy and Deputy Director-General for Energy, Science and Technology at EC Council of Ministers (Brussels).
He was a Fellow of the Irish Management Institute; an Honorary Fellow of the institution of the Engineers of Ireland; Chairman: National Economic and Social Council; the Central Review Committee which oversaw the progress of social partnership; and a member of the international Financial Services Committee, and the Task force on Employment.
He was married, to Patricia Ni Lideadha, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
In a statement, Mr O’Brien described Mr ÓhUiginn as a man of “exceptional ability”.
He said Mr Ó hUiginn “belonged to a small coterie of people who can rightfully claim credit for the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), one of the most innovative and successful initiatives ever undertaken in Ireland”.
“He loved positive stories about the achievements of Irish people from around the world and he was never slow to send a message about someone he had met: ‘I think you need to meet this person . . . great personality, great ability. Find them a job – you won’t regret it.’
“Padraig called me last night to continue our many conversations about how job creation needed to be accelerated in rural Ireland and the need for a more equitable spread of job opportunities outside of the larger urban centers.”
He leaves an enormous legacy, said Mr O’Brien.
