The condition of former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, who is ill in a Dublin hospital, has improved, a statement issued on behalf of his family has said.
Dr FitzGerald (85) was taken off a ventilator on Wednesday and no longer requires assistance in breathing. His family are “hopeful but cautious”, the statement said.
Dr FitzGerald served two terms as taoiseach. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969 after previously serving in Seanad Éireann, to which he was elected in 1965. He served as taoiseach from July 1981 to February 1982 and from December 1982 to June 1987. He negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985.