Renowned school principal and stalwart Fine Gael senator

Andy O'Brien:   Andy O'Brien, who died in Cavan on December 4th, aged 91, served as a national school teacher and principal, …

Andy O'Brien:  Andy O'Brien, who died in Cavan on December 4th, aged 91, served as a national school teacher and principal, senator, county councillor, farmer and Ulster GAA president. He was a major figure in Cavan-Monaghan politics for 50 years and served as a Fine Gael senator in Seanad Éireann for almost 20 years.

He was born in Cavan in 1915. In a speech in the Seanad in 1971 during a debate on membership of the EEC, he referred to the relative immaturity of our nation when he said: "I am on the side of those who favour membership. I believe our future lies in joining the EEC. This is a turning point in the history of our country, as the Treaty of Rome will be regarded, in years ahead, as a turning point in the history of Europe. Our entry into the EEC can be a distinctive one, perhaps not as distinctive as it would have been if we had obtained our freedom at an earlier date in history . . ."

He was acutely concerned about the steady population decline of counties Cavan, Leitrim, Mayo and Donegal. Together with public representatives from those counties, he fought a long and patient campaign of sustained lobbying on all sides of the political divide to secure investment in infrastructure, third-level education, health and tourism to reverse the haemorrhage of young people to Dublin and abroad.

He lived to see the fruits of his efforts, most recently with the building of the new third-level college, the Cavan Institute, in Cavan town.

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He maintained a lifelong interest in the GAA. He was a member of the Cavan County Board from 1936 until 1973 and of the Ulster Council from 1943 to 1973, and president of the Ulster Council from 1971 to 1973. He represented Cavan on the Ulster Council during the heady days for Cavan football in the 1940s and 1950s.

He lamented the decline of football in Cavan which he put down partly to the mass exodus of young people from the area over the decades.

O'Brien was first and foremost a teacher and a winner on two occasions of the prestigious Carlisle and Blake Premium award, the first in 1939, for outstanding achievement in primary education. He took extraordinary pride in the success of his students and devoted his free time on Saturday mornings over many years to giving grind classes to interested students.

In addition to being an Irish scholar, he had a lifelong interest in the arts and ecology and was a talented gardener. His other great passion was amateur dramatics. He was producer/director of the Magnet Players, a local drama group that toured widely to drama festivals during the 1940s and 1950s, and also acted with the group, as did his late brother Michael (Miko). He was a founder member of the Cavan Drama Festival.

His political career began in 1937 at a time when Cavan had no Fine Gael TD and little grass-roots party organisation. Serving as county secretary and later as director of elections, he worked hard at building up the organisation with other supporters countrywide. He was first elected to Cavan County Council in 1955 and was re-elected at every poll until he retired in 1999. He was chairman from 1982-83 and 1995-96. His daughter Madeline (Argue) was elected to the council following his retirement.

Elected to the Seanad in 1969, O'Brien served for 18 years, acting as spokesman on education, social welfare and the Gaeltacht. He also served on the Oireachtas agricultural panel and was a member up to March 1987. He was a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Third World Development and of the Fine Gael parliamentary party committee on education and agriculture. O'Brien was well known for his great wit and his gifts for debating and story-telling

He was the longest serving member of the North Eastern Health Board since first taking up his position in 1979 and for over 25 years worked hard to improve medical facilities in the county. Along with the late Tom Fitzpatrick, who was a minister at the time, he played a key role in securing the building of Cavan General Hospital.

Andy is survived by his wife Molly, five sons, Colm, Niall, Brian, Myles and Malachy, and two daughters, Madeline Argue, and Fidelma Magee, two sisters Rose O'Toole and Cherry Carter, and grandchildren.

Andy O'Brien: born January 20th 1915; died December 4th, 2006