RIP T.K Whitaker

The_Valeyard

At the grand age of 100,

Irelands greatest civil servant has passed away.


His contribution to Irish history is outstanding and he definitely helped shape modern Ireland.

100, great age to reach.


RIP

Armchair Andy

RIP TK. Brilliant civic duties carried out over his lifetime. Helped make Ireland what it is now tbf.


What age was he?

pgj2015

Armchair Andy wrote: »

RIP TK. Brilliant civic duties carried out over his lifetime. Helped make Ireland what it is now tbf.


What age was he?

Fakediamond

Such a brilliant thinker and a gentleman. RIP Dr Whitaker, you will be missed.

The Backwards Man

I think there was a thread here somewhere about him recently?

RIP

Icemancometh

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I think there was a thread here somewhere about him recently?

RIP

Yeah, he turned 100 not too long ago

Gael23

He celebrated his 100th birthday 32 days ago

DrumSteve

Always thought they named the lemonade after him.

That man was a genius. Rest in peace TK.

Arghus

I wish we had statesmen of his ilk around these days.

jimmycrackcorm

For those who don't know, courtesy of Wikipedia :

 1956 Whitaker was appointed Secretary of the Department of Finance at the age of thirty-nine. His appointment took place at a time when Ireland's economy was in deep depression. Economic growth was non-existent, inflation apparently insoluble, unemployment rife, living standards low and emigration at a figure not far below the birth rate. Whitaker believed that free trade, with increased competition and the end of protectionism, would become inevitable and that jobs would have to be created by a shift from agriculture to industry and services. He formed a team of officials within the department which produced a detailed study of the economy, culminating in a plan recommending policies for improvement. The plan was accepted by the government and was transformed into a White Paper which became known as the First Programme for Economic Expansion, and quite unusually this was published with his name attached in November 1958. The programme became known as the "Grey Book" brought the stimulus of foreign investment into the Irish economy.

Mr. FoggPatches

Damn you 2016...

learn_more

I was like, Forest Whitaker, never cared for him as an actor anyway.

Ken.

If ever anyone deserved something named after them it's T.K.

JupiterKid

This is sad news.:( I only wrote a tribute to Whittaker about a month ago on his 100th birthday. I was the one who posted up a thread here about him.

Still, reaching 100 is great innings. His legacy is the modern Ireland we live in today.

endacl

The_Valeyard wrote: »

At the grand age of 100,
100, great age to reach.

Armchair Andy wrote: »

What age was he?

Fleawuss

I hope the government orders the national flag to fly at half mast. We need to mark his passing as a community and a nation. One of the great architects of our state has passed.

Rest In Peace.

somesoldiers

What a statesman, pity there aren't a few more around these days. Also will fondly be remembered for inventing Irish drinks cabinet favourite TK Red Lemonade

Layinghen

A true Statesman.

Dr Whitaker you did indeed do the State some service.

RIP

FrancieBrady

Fleawuss wrote: »

I hope the government orders the national flag to fly at half mast. We need to mark his passing as a community and a nation. One of the great architects of our state has passed.

Rest In Peace.

RIP to the man, 100 is a great age to live to.

But I keep seeing this 'tribute' to him, 'great architect of our state' and we need flags at half mast and maybe a state funeral etc.

Does he bear responsibility for only the good bits of how we are now or all of it, because it seems to me the 'state' isn't in great shape. He stemmed emigration for a while but not for long and we lived in a bubble in the 70's 80's until that crashed and then again and again.

Boggy Turf

We need the likes of TK and Lemass now when our weak politicians are destroying our economy through inaction and fear.

topper75

FrancieBrady wrote: »

RIP to the man, 100 is a great age to live to.

But I keep seeing this 'tribute' to him, 'great architect of our state' and we need flags at half mast and maybe a state funeral etc.

Does he bear responsibility for only the good bits of how we are now or all of it, because it seems to me the 'state' isn't in great shape. He stemmed emigration for a while but not for long and we lived in a bubble in the 70's 80's until that crashed and then again and again.

So no state funeral unless absolutely perfect?

He, and his ilk who fostered FDI, saved us from being a northwestern version of Albania.

2ygb4cmqetsjhx

An inspiration of a man. Just checking his Wikipedia page. He had two wives which both died before him. Imagine being married to a woman for 53 years remarrying after your wife dies. Nothing wrong with it of course but something I never considered. Funny old life.

FrancieBrady

topper75 wrote: »

So no state funeral unless absolutely perfect?

Well it could read, a state funeral if you do well in your appointments or because you are a civil servant who lived until he was a 100.

He did his job, well, apparently. But he didn't create a nirvana, we are seeing a lot of the negatives of FDI emerging now as well and it may turn out that it 'opened' us up to be massively exploited and to be turned into a tax haven.

Didas

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Well it could read, a state funeral if you do well in your appointments or because you are a civil servant who lived until he was a 100.

He did his job, well, apparently. But he didn't create a nirvana, we are seeing a lot of the negatives of FDI emerging now as well and it may turn out that it 'opened' us up to be massively exploited and to be turned into a tax haven.

No one claims he created a nirvana, but he is one of the people most responsible for dragging Ireland out of the self inflicted poverty and backwardness that dominated the first 40 years of the state.

Fleawuss

FrancieBrady wrote: »

RIP to the man, 100 is a great age to live to.

But I keep seeing this 'tribute' to him, 'great architect of our state' and we need flags at half mast and maybe a state funeral etc.

Does he bear responsibility for only the good bits of how we are now or all of it, because it seems to me the 'state' isn't in great shape. He stemmed emigration for a while but not for long and we lived in a bubble in the 70's 80's until that crashed and then again and again.

He bears responsibility for saving this country from the economic illiteracy of its first 30 years and putting in place the planning that made all development possible. He was always an advocate of controlled public spending for development purposes and a strong central bank. Part of his legacy was to sweep away the de Valera obsessions and backwardness and launch us outward. FDI may well be ending in the era of Trump but we can't blame Whitaker that we didn't mKe more of the opportunities it brought. Arguable Brexit and the cutting of dependency on the U.K. Will start the third phase of our development.

FrancieBrady

Didas wrote: »

No one claims he created a nirvana, but he is one of the people most responsible for dragging Ireland out of the self inflicted poverty and backwardness that dominated the first 40 years of the state.

Fleawuss wrote: »

He bears responsibility for saving this country from the economic illiteracy of its first 30 years and putting in place the planning that made all development possible. He was always an advocate of controlled public spending for development purposes and a strong central bank. Part of his legacy was to sweep away the de Valera obsessions and backwardness and launch us outward. FDI may well be ending in the era of Trump but we can't blame Whitaker that we didn't mKe more of the opportunities it brought. Arguable Brexit and the cutting of dependency on the U.K. Will start the third phase of our development.

Many people have contributed to the state over the years. And I think a lot of Europe emerged at around the same time. I am sure he was good at his job, but I think talk of flags at half mast and state funerals is a bit overblown tbh.

Fleawuss

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Many people have contributed to the state over the years. And I think a lot of Europe emerged at around the same time. I am sure he was good at his job, but I think talk of flags at half mast and state funerals is a bit overblown tbh.

A state funeral would be the least the state could do for the architect of our modern state. I see no grounds for your objection apart from "many people contributed" which shows a gross lack of judgement about relative importance.

Permabear

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Fleawuss

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Actually attempting to limit Whitaker's greatness to that of a civil servant is missing the point. A lot of the objections to tributes to him and the more subtle limitations on his role is done simply to ensure the space of public greatness is reserved to politicians and political parties: the very people Whitaker had to lead out of their ideological self destructive ignorance for the sake of the people they were meant to serve.

Annasopra

Mr. FoggPatches wrote: »

Damn you 2016...

Did you forget to change your calendar?

Permabear

This post has been deleted.