Bertie Ahern is paying tribute to his former colleague Mary O'Rourke, who died yesterday at the age of 87.
The former taoiseach appointed her as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil and Minister for Public Enterprise.
The Athlone woman was first elected to the Dáil as a Fianna Fáil TD in 1982.
She served as Education Minister and Health Minister among other portfolios under different Governments and represented both the Westmeath and Longford/Westmeath constituencies.
Her funeral will take place on Monday in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Coosan, at 12 noon, followed by burial in Coosan cemetery.
Ahern paid tribute to her:
Roscommon’s Terry Leyden was in government with her in the Eighties and early Nineties when they were both in Fianna Fáil.
He said she turned down the opportunity to run for President, and that her death surprised him.
