A political colossus on the local, national, and international stage
OBITUARY: John Bruton
The death occurred on 8th February 2024 of the former Meath TD and Taoiseach, John Bruton of Dunboyne, who went on to serve as European Union Ambassador to the United States.
Aged 76, he died peacefully at the Mater Private Hospital Dublin, following an illness of just over a year, his family announced.
“He was a good husband, a good father and a true patriot,” the family statement said. “We will miss him greatly.”
John is survived by his wife, Finola; son, Matthew, and daughters; Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth, grandchildren, sons-in-law, his brother, Richard and sister, Mary, nieces, nephews, many cousins and extended family.
From a strong farming family in Dunboyne, John Bruton was a law graduate who was first elected to Dail Eireann as a 22-year-old in 1969, having famously being photographed in his pyjamas in hospital during that campaign. He became the youngest member of that Dáil.
Mr Bruton was a deputy for the old Meath constituency until 2004, when he was appointed Ambassador to Washington by the EU. The late Shane McEntee succeeded to his Dáil seat in a by-election the following March.
John Bruton was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education in Liam Cosgrave’s 1973-’77 Coalition with Labour, the equivalent to today’s Minister of Stare or junior minister, and to the Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1975 to 1977.
During a period of volatility in politics, he was Minister for Finance in Garret Fitzgerald’s Government from June 1981 to March 1982, when the Government went out of office after losing a general election brought about because his Budget agreed by the cabinet had been defeated in the Dáil. The Fine Gael-Labour coalition returned to power in November 1982 and he became Minister for Industry and Energy.
In February 1986 he returned to Finance but the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the coalition within a year meant that before he could introduce a budget in 1987, the Dáil was dissolved and a general election called.
When Dr Fitzgerald resigned in 1987, John Bruton contested the leadership but was defeated by Alan Dukes. Fine Gael lost 19 seats in that election, but when there was further electoral disaster for the party in the 1990 presidential election, when Austin Currie trailed in third place, Dukes resigned and John Bruton was unanimously chosen as leader.
In the 1992 general election, Fine Gael lost 10 seats, and Labour and Dick Spring went into coalition with Fianna Fail. When that government fell two years later, John Bruton became the first ever Taoiseach without a General Election. He brought together Fine Gael, Labour and Proinsias De Rossa 's Democratic Left in the ‘Rainbow Coalition'.
Widely respected for his hard work, he received a standing ovation from all sides in the Dáil when he assumed office.
The first 18 months of his term were marked by sustained growth in the economy, helped by previous Taoiseach Albert Reynolds’ success in drawing down European funds, and saw the abolition of the constitutional ban on divorce. With British Prime Minister, John Major, he launched the Anglo-Irish Framework Document, and established a working relationship with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, which foundered after the London bombing of 1996, and worsened after the death of Garda Gerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, and the IRA bombing of a shopping centre in Manchester.
However, he resisted demands that government contacts with Sinn Fein at official level be totally severed. At the same time, he demanded an unequivocal condemnation of violence by Sinn Fein and insisted that the IRA ceasefire would have to be renewed before they could be admitted to all-party talks in Belfast. Bruton also condemned the British authorities for permitting the withdrawal of a ban on an Orange Order march through a Catholic District, and for being neither impartial nor consistent in applying the law on that occasion, a view which met with virtually universal approval in the Republic.
During his period as Taoiseach, he hosted the first high profile visit to Ireland by a member of the British royal family when he welcomed the current King Charles to Ireland, and to Trim and Newgrange in Meath, on a ground-breaking visit which paved the way for Queen Elizabeth II’s historic visit of 2011.
Even when a minister and Taoiseach, he was also constantly looking after constituency matters, keeping abreast of all issues large or small, and the county benefited massively during this period of economic growth in the country. It did no harm to have him in power at this time, as the county increasingly became a busy commuter belt of Dublin.
One of his major achievements for the county was the locating of the European Union Food and Veterinary Office in Kiltale. He turned the sod on it with the President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, in 1997, and was present at the opening of the facility by his successor as Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in summer of 2002.
He had lost the Fine Gael leadership to Michael Noonan in 2001 after a second leadership heave, but was re-elected to his Dáil seat in 2002, as Noonan led the party to electoral disaster.
John Bruton served as Ambassador to Washington from 2004 to 2009, and on return became chairman of the Irish Financial Services Centre in Dublin, as well as of the County Meath Economic Forum. He continued to contribute to public life through newspaper columns, book reviews and his own website.
While he never wrote an autobiography, he gathered a lot of his thoughts together in a volume, ‘Faith in Politics’ published in 2015. It combined many of his views first delivered as speeches, articles, blogs, as a contribution to the ongoing public debates on Europe, world affairs, the economy, religion, and the environment.
These reflections covered domestic politics, the Irish and world economy, the ongoing necessity for reconciliation in Ireland, the Decade of Centenary Commemorations – he was a huge supporter of John Redmond and Home Rule, the future of the EU and its place in the world, personal religious faith in the public sphere, and the global environment.
His last public appearance was early last year on a Zoom call to a Maynooth University seminar on 50 years of European Union membership, which the former Taosieach, Bertie Ahern, also took part in.
President Higgins, who served as Arts Minister in John Bruton's cabinet, said that “it was a privilege to serve as a member of Dáil Éireann and of Cabinet with John and, in particular, when he served as a very energetic Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997.”
“John Bruton was a deeply committed politician, who demonstrated a life-long interest and engagement in public affairs and public service both in Ireland and internationally,” he stated. “His contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process during his time as Taoiseach was very significant. In this work, he brought a particular sensitivity and a generous approach to inclusion with regard to the perspective of the ‘Other’.
"It was a mark of John Bruton’s interest in politics that while his term as Taoiseach included an emphasis on the local, and in particular the ongoing issues with regard to Northern Ireland, he was always a strongly committed promoter of politics in the European Union.
The President continued: "This was reflected in his ongoing work in support of European integration throughout the period following his term as Taoiseach. In his role as Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, he helped to further build the definition of that role during what was at times a challenging period in relations between the EU and the United States.
"Very open and forthright in his opinions, John had a great sense of humour which was a great help in ensuring a sense of collegiality and that small issues would never be allowed to defeat what was important in relation to the things that mattered most.
"Always bristling with ideas, and occasionally demonstrating an impatience with the difficulties of implementation, those of us who worked with John, be it in Government or in Opposition, will recall the energy which he brought to the different parts of politics. This continued in John’s many contributions to the public debate in the years following his departure from office and, in all of his roles, was something which I always very much welcomed and found very refreshing.
Our most recent contact was in relation to the recent considerations of the Council of State, which he sought to attend right to the end.
While we were conscious, and would occasionally remind each other both in Government and in the years after, of an ideological gap between us, our conversations nearly always ended with the very particular deep laugh which all of us who knew him will immediately recall. John will be remembered with great warmth and his contributions to the public debate greatly missed.”
John Bruton was a son of Joe Bruton, a prominent member of the National Farmers Association, later the Irish Farmers Association, and Doris Delany of Woodtown, Culmullen, Drumree.