Politician of star quality who never fulfilled potential

Assessment: Michael O'Leary was a politician of star quality who achieved a great deal but, due to circumstances, never fulfilled his potential.

From the mid-1960s until the mid-1980s he was a leading political figure who served as a TD, a minister, an MEP, party leader and tánaiste. After 1987 he disappeared to the margins of politics and ended up as a district judge. He formally retired from that position only last Monday, having reached the age of 70.

The most touching political tribute paid to him yesterday came from Liam Cosgrave, the taoiseach he served as minister for labour in the 1970s. "His career in politics reflected in many ways his personality," said Mr Cosgrave. "When he applied his talents he was quite skilful and had successful achievements . . . He was easy to work with, although at times his mercurial personality made it difficult to find him but when located his good humour eased the situation."

A wonderful talker and a man of immense charm, O'Leary burst on to the national political scene in 1965 when he was elected as a Labour TD for Dublin North Central. Although he was a Cork man, he had no difficulty in winning over Dublin working class voters. In the heady political atmosphere of the 1960s, he was part of the radical new crop of Labour politicians who set their face against coalition in the belief that the seventies would be socialist.

After the disappointment of 1969, when the Labour vote went up but the party lost seats, there was a reassessment of the anti-coalition stance. O'Leary loyally supported the U-turn of his party leader, Brendan Corish, and accepted the need for a coalition pact with Fine Gael. When the two parties entered government in 1973 under Liam Cosgrave, the post of minister for labour was his reward.

O'Leary was a reforming minister who introduced a raft of legislation designed to protect workers' rights and to improve the position of women in the workforce. Some of the reform was required by Ireland's membership of the EU (then called the EEC) but much of it was driven by the minister, who was determined to leave his mark in office.

When Labour lost power in 1977 and Corish stepped down, O'Leary contested the leadership against Dubliner Frank Cluskey. There was a tie on the first vote but in a second ballot he lost by one. He stood in the Dublin constituency in the first election to the European Parliament and was elected.

When Cluskey lost his seat in the general election of 1981, O'Leary succeeded to the leadership without a contest and immediately started negotiations with Garret FitzGerald on the formation of a government. He had a good relationship with Dr FitzGerald from their time in government together and agreement was reached on a programme that was ratified by a special delegate conference of the Labour Party in the Gaiety Theatre.

As tánaiste and minister for energy in that short-lived 1981/1982 government, O'Leary was at the height of his political career. He finished his bar exams while tánaiste in the autumn of 1981. After the collapse of the first FitzGerald coalition, O'Leary grew increasingly impatient with the interminable infighting that beset Labour and he went to a party conference in October 1982 seeking a mandate for coalition. When he lost the vote he resigned as leader and, more sensationally, quit the party entirely.

When a general election was called a week later he stood as a Fine Gael candidate and was elected as a party TD. He had hopes of returning to government but his prospects were vetoed by Labour who made it clear to Dr FitzGerald that they would not accept him as a minister. It was a bitter disappointment for O'Leary who found life as a government backbencher extremely frustrating.

In 1985, O'Leary introduced a private members' Bill on divorce which forced the government into holding the 1986 referendum. During that period he took part in the discussions which led to the foundation of the Progressive Democrats. O'Leary did not contest the 1987 general election and, while he made a brief return to local politics in Cork, he never returned to the Dáil. He was appointed a district judge by John Bruton's rainbow government.