Former Minister for Education Dick Burke has died
The former Minister for Education Dick Burke has died.
He passed away peacefully at his home this morning, at the age of 83.
Burke served as Education Minister in the Fine Gael government led by Liam Cosgrave from 1973 until 1976.
During his time in office, he removed the requirement for students to pass Irish to pass their Leaving Cert and introduced Transition Year in 2nd level schools.
Burke was twice appointed as the EU Commissioner, and was responsible for Fine Gael joining the Christian democrats in the European Parliament.
He is survived by his wife Mary, and 5 their children.
John Bruton, former Taoiseach has paid the following tribute.
"I was really shocked to learn this evening of the death of my friend, Dick Burke.
"Dick Burke was a very successful, reforming, Minister for Education, with concrete achievements to his name. He introduced the Transition Year and School Management Boards. To have persuaded the various “establishments”, that dominated education in Ireland at the time, to accept, and to successfully operate, these major reforms was a big negotiating achievement.
"He was able to do this because he won the trust of existing institutional interests. While he wanted change, he was able to make it happen because he also showed respect for what the existing institutions had achieved for the children of Ireland in times when resources were more scarce.
"He relaxed the “compulsory Irish” system in education, and introduced Irish Studies, as a way of promoting a more inclusive understanding of what it is to be Irish. His thinking on this was ahead of his time.
"He was a pleasure to work for. He delegated responsibility, but was always accessible for advice. He was supportive without being intrusive. I can never recollect him being angry, although he would have had reason to be sometimes!
"We were elected to the Dáil on the same day in 1969. My first political responsibility was to act (with Dr Hugh Byrne) as one of his two Assistant Whips, when Dick was appointed to be Chief Whip of the Fine Gael Party by Liam Cosgrave. I was subsequently his Parliamentary Secretary when he was appointed as Minister for Education in 1973.
"In ideological terms, Dick Burke was proud to be a Christian Democrat. As a student of Christian and Catholic Social teaching, he fully understood this political tradition.
"When Ireland joined the European Common Market, he was particularly happy to have been one of those who persuaded the Fine Gael party to associate itself with the European Christian Democratic movement, now the European Peoples Party. This was a far seeing decision that continues to enhance Ireland’s influence in Europe to this day.
He served two terms as a European Commissioner. After the first of these, he was able to return to win a Dáil seat for Fine Gael, in a completely different constituency to the one he had first represented. This was a remarkable and almost unique political achievement.
"To the end of his life, he continued to take a deep interest in the Fine Gael party and attended party
events to show support for current leaders of the party. I extend to Mary, and his entire family, to whom he was deeply devoted, my heartfelt sympathy."
