Athlone councillors pay tribute to ‘political titan’ Mary O’Rourke

Affectionate tributes to the late Mary O'Rourke were delivered by local councillors at this week's meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District, where she was described as a political "colossus" and someone who had helped "put Athlone on the map" at a national level.

The meeting on Monday, which was attended by Ms O'Rourke's son, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, also included tributes to late South Roscommon councillor John Naughten and to the late Mary Burke, the mother of Westmeath Government Minister Peter Burke.

Athlone's Mayor, Cllr Frankie Keena, spoke about his long association with Mary O'Rourke, and said she had captured stories from her life in her two published books, Just Mary and Letters of My Life.

Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said that he and Ms O'Rourke often "didn't see eye to eye" but that she was a person who had a vision for Athlone and the wider Midlands area.

He said she had delivered numerous projects for the locality, citing the Department of Education's premises in Athlone as an example.

"Myself and Mary never clicked at certain times, but when I became a Minister in the last Dáil I got three phone calls from Mary on different occasions, with three bits of advice. Two of them I took, and one I didn't. The one I didn't, I wish I did!" he said.

"She was straight to the point at all times, and I respect people like that. Athlone has lost a very formidable politician and a person who wore Athlone on her chest."

Cllr John Dolan said he knew what it was like to lose a mother, and he pointed out that Mary O'Rourke's political career began at a time when it was very hard to be a woman in politics.

"She was a woman who went to the very top of politics, at a time when that wasn't the norm, and that says something about her her character, her strength and her ability."

Cllr Tom Farrell pointed out that his late father had served on Westmeath County Council with Mary O'Rourke.

"It's many the spar they had, but they were still always friends," he said.

"She was a team player, and Athlone, Westmeath and Longford were always her number one. She was a straight talker and gave good advice. Between herself and Pat Cooney, the two of them really put Athlone on the map."

"Athlone has definitely lost a colossus in the past few days, and someone who I don't think will ever be replaced," said Cllr Vinny McCormack.

He pointed out that Mary O'Rourke had not been in favour of gender quotas but had "in her own way" encouraged numerous other women to become involved in the political system.

Cllr Paul Hogan said Athlone had lost "a political titan" and "a woman of huge intelligence".

"She was articulate, she was quick-witted, and as, a number of people have said, she was a trailblazer in terms of her own political achievements."

He mentioned that her political career started 50 years ago, when she was elected to the Athlone Urban District Council in 1974, and that her achievements included contributing to the development of the college (now TUS) and the locating of the local Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland premises.

Council Director of Services Ambrose Clarke remarked that, when he was growing up in Mullingar, "it was always said that Athlone was getting something because it had Mary O'Rourke".

"I don't know if that was true or not but it's clear that Mary O'Rourke did a lot for the people of Athlone, which is what public service is about," said Mr Clarke.

Cllr O'Rourke thanked his colleagues for their tributes. "We are very proud of Mum, of course we are, but she lived a full life and her funeral was very much a celebration as far as we were concerned," he said.

Referring to his mother's "very frank" way of communicating, he told a story of being a secondary school student in the Marist College and being taken aside by one of the Marist brothers when he arrived one morning.

"I was told, 'there's a headline in today's national newspaper that we're not in favour of. It's not very nice and it's about your mother'.

"I was quite alarmed. What was this? And then he showed it to me. It said, 'Mary O'Rourke: The only cabinet Minister with balls'.

"Of course, Mary O'Rourke was absolutely delighted with that headline!" he said, to laughter in the council chamber.

"Funny little vignettes like that have come out in recent days, and they're nice to hear."

In addition, the councillors paid tribute to Cllr John Naughten, extending their condolences to his family and speaking about their shock at his passing.

Cllr John Dolan said he would have been in contact with Cllr Naughten about various issues every few weeks. "You just couldn't believe it," he said of his passing.

Cllr Naughten was described by Cllr Paul Hogan as "an excellent local politician, who would always have a word for everybody, and has a huge record of delivery for his area of South Roscommon".

Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran also said he had known Cllr Naughten well. "I just don't have words to say how you'd feel you'd feel for the Naughten family at this time," he said.

Condolences were also extended to Minister Peter Burke on the passing of his mother with councillors remarking that the passing was particularly sad given that Minister Burke had also lost his father two years ago.