A senior policy adviser to the Tánaiste, Mr Maurice Roche, has died after suffering very serious head injuries in a horse riding accident on Friday.
Mr Roche (48) fell from his horse at Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, and was flown by helicopter to Tallaght hospital where he died this afternoon
Mr Roche was regarded as an influential policy adviser in Ms Harney's team, specialising in economic policy.
He began working with the PDs in 1995 as a policy researcher, before being appointed Ms Harney's political adviser when the PDs entered government with Fianna Fáil in 1997.