Cormac McNamaraCormac McNamara's contribution to Irish medicine was immense. Many general practitioners both here and abroad benefited from his counsel, his support and his friendship.
As the Republic's foremost medical politician for over 30 years, he had a major influence on national health policy. He helped bring general practice from the backwaters of medicine to the recognised speciality it is today and in doing so championed the cause of the less well off in society.
But he also had a major interest in occupational health. He was chief medical adviser to Waterford Glass, Bausch and Lomb and other industries in the south-east. As the recipient of a World Health Organisation scholarship, in 1982, he travelled to the US to carry out research into alcohol and its impact on employment. He was instrumental in the introduction of employee assistance programmes to Waterford Glass; his other key interest was in the area of sickness absence.
Cormac McNamara was born in Limerick in 1944. His older brother died when he was young and his father, Jack, passed away when Cormac was 14. It fell to his mother, Doris, to successfully continue the family painting and decorating business.
He attended the Crescent, Limerick, and also spent a year in Colaíste na Rinne in Ring, Co Waterford. Fiercely ambitious, he won a scholarship to UCD, where he entered medical school in 1962. From then until his graduation in 1968 he lived in Hatch Hall student residence and was an active member of its debating society.
After a year's internship in Waterford, he went to UCC to work in the physiology department. Weekends and evenings were spend doing locums for general practitioners; during his second year at UCC he began part-time work in the practice of Dr Tom Keogh in Waterford city.
In 1970, he joined the Keogh practice full- time and began a life-long partnership with Dr Keogh. Both had a great appetite for work and the practice built up quickly to the point where it is now, with 14 doctors, the largest general practice in the Republic.
In 1969, he married Mary Grant. They had met through her brother Eddie who was a classmate of his. Eddie subsequently joined the partnership, which also includes Cormac's brother Fergus, his sister-in-law Chantelle, and his son Niall.
After settling into practice, he began a life-long involvement in medical politics. In the early 1970s there were two bodies representing doctors here: the Irish Medical Association (IMA) and the Medical Union. By 35 he was president of the Medical Union and shortly after was elected chairman of the IMA. From then on he worked tirelessly in bringing about an amalgamation of both organisations and in 1984, his ambition was achieved with the formation of the Irish Medical Organisation.
The merger of two cultures can be a difficult process. Unfortunately, the IMO was beset by infighting between those with a trade union ethos and those for whom policy and patient advocacy were the primary raison d'étre. In 1990 McNamara again took a leadership role. Along with the current chief executive of the IMO, George McNeice, he worked painstakingly to repair fractured relationships and to restore financial stability to the organisation.
A founder member of the Irish College of General Practitioners, he was its second president in 1985, demonstrating an ability to be equally comfortable in the medico-political arena and the academic-educational one.
Between 1995 and 1998 he was president of the Union of European General Practitioners (UEMO). Its council met several times in Ireland during this time; the warmth of the Irish presidency is still spoken about fondly by European delegations.
Cormac McNamara was a committed family man, who despite his busy public life, never missed an important family event. A modest golfer, he managed the remarkable feat of an albatross with his second shot to the 13th hole at Waterford Castle in 1988. He had a life-long interest in the Irish language and in poetry, with Seamus Heaney a favourite. His faith was important to him and to his family.
He is survived by his wife Mary and his children John, Niall, Corrie, Neasa and Mary.
Cormac McNamara: born February 5th, 1944; died March 26th, 2004.