Timing and a little more electoral luck might well have secured Alexis FitzGerald, who has died aged 70, a senior role within Fine Gael in recent decades.
He had the right Fine Gael pedigree, when that was a considerable advantage within the party, while an outgoing and friendly personality made him an effective organiser and campaigner in elections.
FitzGerald’s uncle, Alexis FitzGerald, served in the Seanad and was one of the party’s most influential figures for over three decades until his death in 1985. He was an economic adviser to John A Costello in the first inter-party government in 1948 and played a more extended role in that capacity with Garret FitzGerald, attending cabinet meetings, in the 1981-1982 FG-Labour coalition. Uncle and nephew were close.
FitzGerald was elected to the Dáil and Seanad but opted out of politics in the 1980s to concentrate on his auctioneering business. He made history in his private life when he and his wife, Mary Flaherty, became one of the few couples to serve in the Dáil at the same time. Their 1982 wedding, when he was lord mayor of Dublin, was a celebrity affair.
Sherry Fitzgerald
Born in Dublin, he was educated at Gonzaga and Clongowes Wood colleges. Following an apprenticeship, he established FitzGerald & Partners, which amalgamated with Sherry & Son to become
Sherry FitzGerald
& Partners in 1982.
He was active in Fine Gael from a young age and was a supporter of Declan Costello’s Just Society vision, which advocated a more radical and socially caring policy for the party. He was elected to the Fine Gael national executive in 1970.
He became a member of Dublin City Council as alderman for the south inner city in 1974, was re-elected for the Rathmines electoral area in 1979 and again in 1985, topping the poll. He was elected to the Seanad in 1981, replacing his uncle.
He unsuccessfully contested Dáil elections in different Dublin constituencies in 1973, 1977 and 1981, before securing a seat in Dublin South East, the same constituency as Garret FitzGerald, in February 1982.
It was a time when TDs could also remain members of local authorities and, by then, he was also lord mayor of Dublin and about to marry fellow Fine Gael TD and former minister of state Mary Flaherty.
The June wedding, with 190 guests, was a huge event, providing a splash of colour in the grey political and social landscape of the 1980s.
Large crowds gathered outside O’ Flaherty’s local church, St Canice’s in Finglas, and later at the Mansion House, where the reception was held in the Oak Room.
The Irish Times reported that the bride arrived "a suitable 15 minutes late, wearing a cream silk Gina Fratini dress in Victorian style''. The male guests wore "black and white and the women were colourful, some wearing elaborate hats''.
Second election
FitzGerald and Flaherty were back at the hustings in November when a general election was called after the collapse of the
Fianna Fáil
minority government.
FitzGerald lost his seat in Dublin South East to fellow FG candidate Joe Doyle, when a strategy to spread Garret FitzGerald's vote and secure three seats backfired. Flaherty held her seat, remaining in the Dáil until 1997, when she left politics to work for a children's charity.
FitzGerald, meanwhile, was elected again to the Seanad, but he left politics in 1987 and resumed his business career. He was an active member of the retired Oireachas members’ group up to the time of his death.
He is survived by his widow, Mary Flaherty, and sons Oliver, Nicholas, Michael and Alexis.