A chara, – Regarding the obituary of Pádraig Faulkner (June 9th), I was his private secretary on his appointment as minister for education in July 1969 and can confirm Micheál Martin’s assessment of him as “a man of decency . . . and integrity”.
This went as far as refusing to use the official post to pay personal, eg dental or medical, bills.
Pádraig Faulkner was a modest man who was very conscious of the honour of being in government. He would have taken issue with the Fianna Fáil statement that “he introduced the regional college concept”. Patrick Hillery, then minister for education, made the relevant announcement in 1963. – Yours, etc,