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TK Whitaker - Father of Modern Ireland

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  • 08-12-2016 8:03pm
    #1
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,630 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Economist and former civil servant TK Whitaker turned 100 today. Most on here probably don't know who this man is, but his then radical economic policies of the late 1950s and early 60s laid the foundations for the modern, wealthy, tolerant Ireland that we all live in today.

    Bascially back in the 1950s Ireland was a social and economic basket case. 30 years had passed since we gained our independence but we had precious little to show for it. A backward economy, utterly dependent on an agricultural sector which was antiquated, third world infrastructure, rampant emigration and a Catholic church that was utterly stifling. This was the result of DeValera's vision of an isolationist, protectionist Ireland with "comely maidens" dancing at the crossroads.

    Except those maidens were all pretty much emigrating along with the young fellas. The only career opportunities were farming, the priesthood, the civil service or, if lucky, the banks and professions which were closed off to most except for the privileged few.

    Whitaker and his colleagues realised that something urgently needed to be done. He drew up the Programme For Economic Expansion, paving the way for opening up Ireland to inward investment, industrialisation, modernisation and development. During the 1960s and early 70s Ireland boomed like never before - hundreds of new businesses opened, the middle class grew hugely and there was a construction boom of suburban housing, office blocks and shopping centres. Whitaker also spearheaded negotiations for our entry into the EU in 1973.

    Despite his advancing years, he always kept abreast of the latest economic and social developments, being critical of the banking sector during the great property bubble of 1998 to 2007.

    He remains a very affable, modest man. But he laid the foundations for today's Ireland and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude.:)


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    #2
    maudgonner
    Registered Users Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭maudgonner


    I like his lemonade. :o

    (Not a euphemism)


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    #3
    The_Valeyard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,452 ✭✭✭✭The_Valeyard


    Happy B-Day TK.


    Wonder what it's like to be 100, alive and kicking and know students learn about you in school.


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    #4
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    The man who could truly say he did the State and the people some service and who stands head and shoulders above the politicians who neatly destroyed this country.


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    #5
    buried
    Registered Users Posts: 9,691 ✭✭✭buried


    Happy umbilical cord cutting day anniversary TK! Thanks for the video stores and the rave music

    "You have disgraced yourselves again" - W. B. Yeats



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    #6
    WoollyRedHat
    Registered Users Posts: 10,462 ✭✭✭✭WoollyRedHat


    Him, Lemass and Browne, actual visionaries who did something positive and weren't obsessed with just lining their pockets .


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    #7
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    The man who could truly say he did the State and the people some service and who stands head and shoulders above the politicians who neatly destroyed this country.

    Ummmmmmm...how about Sean Lemass? The OP remarkably managed to forget the Taoiseach who implemented Whitakers policies...


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    #8
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Ummmmmmm...how about Sean Lemass? The OP remarkably managed to forget the Taoiseach who implemented Whitakers policies...

    You've answered yourself.


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    #9
    Grandeeod
    Registered Users Posts: 12,112 ✭✭✭✭Grandeeod


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Ummmmmmm...how about Sean Lemass? The OP remarkably managed to forget the Taoiseach who implemented Whitakers policies...


    Its answered above by another poster. TKW was part of the process like Lemass.

    There won't be many of us here that know or appreciate the OPs points about TKW. Ireland was a very different place back then and TKW and his few ilk, deserve a lot of gratitude.


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    #10
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Grandeeod wrote: »
    Its answered above by another poster. TKW was part of the process like Lemass.

    Precisely. Without Lemass, Whitaker would have been a civil servant with a few ideas. Hence I was responding to the poster who said that he stood head and shoulders above politicians, he stood very much side by side with one and they will be forever associated in Irish history.


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    #11
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Precisely. Without Lemass, Whitaker would have been a civil servant with a few ideas. Hence I was responding to the poster who said that he stood head and shoulders above politicians, he stood very much side by side with one and they will be forever associated in Irish history.

    Untrue. Whitaker worked with Sweetman of FG in drawing up the the economic regeneration plan. Describing his work as "a few ideas" shows how limited your own are. Lemass was one of the politicians who implemented the policies. Claiming the credit is of course the most worn out hackneyed cynical approach of the tribe known as FF.


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    #12
    Grandeeod
    Registered Users Posts: 12,112 ✭✭✭✭Grandeeod


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Precisely. Without Lemass, Whitaker would have been a civil servant with a few ideas. Hence I was responding to the poster who said that he stood head and shoulders above politicians, he stood very much side by side with one and they will be forever associated in Irish history.

    We probably need a few more civil servants like TKW so.;)


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    #13
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,630 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Yes, Lemass was instrumental in implementing Whitaker's plans but without Whitaker and his team, it is highly unlikely that Ireland would have begun to modernise when it did so.


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    #14
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    Untrue. Whitaker worked with Sweetman of FG in drawing up the the economic regeneration plan. Describing his work as "a few ideas" shows how limited your own are. Lemass was one of the politicians who implemented the policies. Claiming the credit is of course the most worn out hackneyed cynical approach of the tribe known as FF.

    But sure you can fondly remember Sweetman and the history books can fondly remember Lemass and everyone's happy...


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    #15
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Deleted User wrote: »
    But sure you can fondly remember Sweetman and the history books can fondly remember Lemass and everyone's happy...

    The history books remember both. The Cumann talk of course just addled people's brains. The history books will also record that when the people got a chance to decide in 2001 they picked Whitaker as Irishman of the twentieth century. Not Collins, Dev or Lemass.


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    #16
    nice_guy80
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,723 ✭✭✭nice_guy80


    Hope he enjoys his 100th birthday bonus


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    #17
    The_Valeyard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,452 ✭✭✭✭The_Valeyard


    nice_guy80 wrote: »
    Hope he enjoys his 100th birthday bonus

    Card from the President?


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    #18
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    The history books will also record that when the people got a chance to decide in 2001 they picked Whitaker as Irishman of the twentieth century. Not Collins, Dev or Lemass.

    Source?

    I can only find reference to an RTE programme doing it in 2001.

    In the poll in 2010, John Hume won, though Bono and Stephen Gately both made the top 10 which perhaps showed the value of such polls...


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    #19
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Source?

    I can only find reference to an RTE programme doing it in 2001.

    In the poll in 2010, John Hume won, though Bono and Stephen Gately both made the top 10 which perhaps showed the value of such polls...

    You know the source and ask for it. You disagree with the result so "it's only RTÉ". And because other people you dislike appear in some other poll for which you don't supply a source you dismiss "the value of such polls".


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    #20
    Grandeeod
    Registered Users Posts: 12,112 ✭✭✭✭Grandeeod


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Source?

    I can only find reference to an RTE programme doing it in 2001.

    In the poll in 2010, John Hume won, though Bono and Stephen Gately both made the top 10 which perhaps showed the value of such polls...

    If you don't mind me asking, you seem to have a problem with TKWs recognition over political recognition. Is it because you appreciate political history or are you affiliated to a particular party. I don't really mind. Just curious.


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    #21
    Water John
    Registered Users Posts: 21,169 ✭✭✭✭Water John


    Just a nod to the great thinker TK. A man who believed that everybody should be able to share in the wealth of the country.
    Thanks for the thread, OP.


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    #22
    nice_guy80
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,723 ✭✭✭nice_guy80


    The_Valeyard wrote: »
    Card from the President?

    you get €1,200 in the post


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    #23
    diomed
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,744 ✭✭✭diomed


    He must be wore out signing all those bank notes.
    Well played TK.


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    #24
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    You know the source and ask for it. You disagree with the result so "it's only RTÉ". And because other people you dislike appear in some other poll for which you don't supply a source you dismiss "the value of such polls".

    You said that "when the people got to decide".

    I only found a reference to an RTE programme.

    If that was indeed the source, it's rather far from "the people deciding".


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    #25
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Deleted User wrote: »
    You said that "when the people got to decide".

    I only found a reference to an RTE programme.

    If that was indeed the source, it's rather far from "the people deciding".

    If you know it was RTÉ you know how they decided. It's very easily found on Google. http://https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/tk-whitaker-ireland-s-man-of-the-century-turns-99-1.2463149%3Fmode%3Damp


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    #26
    judeboy101
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,246 ✭✭✭judeboy101


    Am I the only one who remembers that this is the man who convinced Jack Lynch to stand by and watch the slaughter of Irish men and women by the Brits in the north?


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    #27
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,630 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    judeboy101 wrote: »
    Am I the only one who remembers that this is the man who convinced Jack Lynch to stand by and watch the slaughter of Irish men and women by the Brits in the north?

    TK Whitaker's positive contributions massively outweigh any negatives.

    Anyhow, I'm not sure getting directly militarily involved in the NI troubles in the early 1970s would have been a good idea - it would have dragged the entire island into a new civil war and probably have destroyed the country economically. Would it have been worth it?

    I just see bitterness in your post.


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    #28
    marienbad
    Registered Users Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    judeboy101 wrote: »
    Am I the only one who remembers that this is the man who convinced Jack Lynch to stand by and watch the slaughter of Irish men and women by the Brits in the north?

    what was the alternative ?


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    #29
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    judeboy101 wrote: »
    Am I the only one who remembers that this is the man who convinced Jack Lynch to stand by and watch the slaughter of Irish men and women by the Brits in the north?

    There is no such man. He's a figment of the imagination of alt "republicanism".


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    #30
    topper75
    Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    spearheaded negotiations for our entry into the EU in 1973.

    There is forward-thinking, which he was. And then there is time travel, which he didn't do.

    The EEC, God rest it, worked just fine.


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    #31
    topper75
    Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    marienbad wrote: »
    what was the alternative ?

    MAAAAARA! What gob****e places a space before a question mark?


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