1973 people: Peter Berry
One of the most powerful civil servants in the history of the State, he played a central role as Secretary of the Department of Justice in thwarting the attempted importation of arms for the IRA in 1970. He was the chief State witness in the subsequent Arms Trial involving Charles J Haughey and others, who were all acquitted. Berry was meticulous to the point of obsession in his approach to security matters, but even his critics acknowledged he was a conscientious public servant. He died in December, 1978 at the age of 69, but the posthumous publication of The Berry Diaries in Magill magazine in 1980 caused a sensation with its allegations about the behaviour of different politicians during the Arms Crisis.