Tom O'Higgins would undoubtedly have become leader of Fine Gael had he not withdrawn from politics in 1973, writes Garret FitzGerald
The family roots of Tom O'Higgins in Irish politics went deeper than those of anyone else, notably bridging the political watershed of the 1918 election.
Among his forebears were his great-grandfather, T.D.Sullivan, and great-grand-uncle, A.M.Sullivan, who were politically active from the 1860s onwards and were Nationalist MPs through the last quarter of the 19th century, as well as Tim Healy, whose career at Westminster stretched from 1880 to 1918, and who thereafter became first governor-general of the Irish Free State.
His own father, Tom, and his uncle, Kevin, who was murdered by members of the IRA in 1927 - as had been his doctor grandfather in 1922 - were both ministers, and his brother, Michael, served with him in the Dáil for many years.
Tom was born in the seminal year 1916, and first stood for election 60 years ago, in 1943. He subsequently served in Dáil Eireann for a quarter-century between 1948 and 1973. Early in his political career, as a member of the Council of Europe, he came to know Sir Winston Churchill, who once advised him that when speaking in public, one can never go too slowly!
From the outset Tom O'Higgins was active in promoting research and pursuing policy issues within the Fine Gael party. By his late 30s he had become minister for health in the second post-war coalition, establishing, in the aftermath of the Mother and Child debacle, the Voluntary Health Insurance scheme.
Fianna Fáil's subsequent 16-year period in power prevented him from serving again in government, but in 1966 he came spectacularly close to depriving Eamon de Valera of a second term as president, missing victory by a margin of only one-half of 1 per cent.
In that campaign he launched the movement for a pluralist Ireland, the outcome of which he lived to see in later decades. As deputy leader of Fine Gael in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was an inspiration to those who wanted the party to move in a more social-democratic and liberal direction.
When the 1973 election was called he helped in the construction of the national coalition, but he had agreed not to stand again for the Dáil so as to concentrate on the impending presidential election which, however was won by Erskine Childers.
Shortly afterwards he was appointed to the Supreme Court, but soon became chief justice, thus crowning a distinguished legal career. In that role he was seen as having an unwavering commitment to justice and a fine sense of subtle legal issues.
He also took the opportunity afforded by his position to establish a new and closer relationship with the Bar and judiciary of Northern Ireland, with whom relations had been somewhat distant since the 1920s. As a result Irish barristers can now be called to the Northern Bar without having first to be called to the Bar in Britain.
Later he accepted membership of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Given his strong commitment to European unity - he had been an active member of the Irish Council of the European Movement for many years - this provided a fitting end to a most distinguished legal career. His family background in politics had endowed him with a deep sense of public service and a concern for the public good that was never marred by personal political ambition.
I cannot recall anyone, whether in his own party or in others, ever having a bad word to say about him. Had he not withdrawn from politics in 1973 he would undoubtedly have succeeded Liam Cosgrave as leader four years later and would have had the enthusiastic loyalty of all his colleagues.
My own subsequent leadership of the party was by default, a consequence of both Declan Costello and Tom O'Higgins joining the judiciary. His personal warmth, humanity, humour, incapacity for either self-promotion or personal rancour, and general straightforwardness, as well as his good judgment, won him universal respect and affection.
Above all, he was somebody who enjoyed people, and liked nothing more than a good conversation or debate. He would always listen to an opposing point of view with the best of good humour. For my part, as well as owing him a great debt for his invariable kindness, and particularly for the way he guided me during my early days in politics, I gained enormous pleasure in recent times from sharing with him the role of grandfather to the five children of his younger daughter and my younger son.
For, while the public side of his life was well known, he was above all else a man committed to his family, both immediate and extended, supported in this by a devoted marriage that lasted almost 55 years. Terry, his children, his grandchildren, his brother, Michael, and sister,Rosaleen, can in their loss all be very proud of a man who lived such a full and productive life.