James Ivers:JAMES IVERS, who has died aged 83, was a former director general of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland and general secretary of the Irish Dental Association. He also was the first chief executive officer of the North Western Health Board.
Born in Cork in 1927, he was the eldest of the eight children of John Ivers and his wife Imelda (née Sheehan). Educated at the North Monastery CBS he won a scholarship to University College Cork, which he was unable to take up due to the family’s financial circumstances. However, he subsequently completed his third-level education by night and secured a BComm, MEcon and MBA.
He began his working life with Great Southern Railways in Waterford. He then joined the Civil Service as clerical officer with the department of posts and telegraph. He then transferred to industry and commerce where he was an executive officer.
In 1950 he became an administrative officer at the department of health and in 1958 he was appointed general secretary of the Irish Dental Association, a position he held until 1970 when he took over as general manager (trading) of the Waterford Co-op.
In October 1970 he moved to Donegal, where he lived while in charge of the North Western Health Board. In 1973 he was appointed director general of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, the first non-lawyer to hold the position.
An active member of the Legion of Mary, he represented the organisation at the Eucharistic Congress in Munich in 1960.
He helped set up credit union branches in Dalkey and Howth, and served as national treasurer of the Irish League of Credit Unions. He also served on the policies committee of Cuna International, the worldwide association of credit unions. He was a co-founder and first secretary of the Institute of Public Administration, and he chaired the General Medical Services (Payments) Board. A former member of the prison visiting committee for Mountjoy and Arbour Hill, he also worked with the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund.
His friend Seán Burke described him as a “people person” always considerate of others. He is survived by his wife Ann Elizabeth (Nanette), daughters Mary, Ann, Bernadette, Clare, Fionnuala, Carmel, Angela, Muireann, Maeve and Clodagh and sons Noel, James, Gerard and Gilbert.
James Joseph Ivers: born October 1st, 1927; died June 28th, 2011