Paddy Duffy: Friend and adviser to Bertie Ahern

Born September 1st, 1943 Died October 17th, 2018 Paddy Duffy was a close friend and political associate of Bertie Ahern for four decades, so it was fitting that he died in the company of the former taoiseach at Heathrow Airport as they were on their way home from Papua New Guinea. They were in that far away country to give the locals the benefit of their political knowledge ahead of a referendum on autonomy for the Bougainville region next year.

Duffy, a former school principal, worked on Ahern’s first election campaign in 1977, and the two men began a life-long friendship. Paddy gave up his post as a school principal to advise the then minister for finance from 1992-1994, and moved on to become Ahern’s chef de cabinet during his period of leader of the opposition from 1994 to 1997.

When Ahern became taoiseach in 1997, Duffy worked as his political adviser and speechwriter. He also worked on Mary McAleese’s presidential election campaign in 1997. He left the taoiseach’s department in 1999, to set up his own public relations firm.

Duffy was born and reared in Athboy, Co Meath, where he attended the local national school where one of his teachers was the writer John McGahern. He went on to the Christian Brothers secondary school, and subsequently joined the Christian Brothers. While a member of the order he studied philosophy in Rome for three years. He left the Christian Brothers in his mid-20s and continued his career as a teacher. He had an aptitude for languages and taught at De La Salle, Finglas, and Gonzaga, before founding an all-Irish school in Ashbourne, Co Meath.

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A strong Fianna Fáil supporter, Duffy joined the party in 1975. He was teaching in the De La Salle school in Finglas at the time, and was involved with the local Erin’s Isle GAA club. One of the first people he met after joining Fianna Fáil was Ahern, who was then working in the accounts department of the Mater hospital. Ahern made no secret of his political ambitions, and Duffy was one of the team that helped him get elected to the Dáil at his first attempt in 1977.

It marked a huge transformation in Ahern’s life. Duffy later remarked: “It was a real awakening for him. Before that his priorities were football, a few pints and a bit of Fianna Fáil. Suddenly he had a future in politics...Bertie went from being one of the lads to being a leader with ambitions and plans.”

Serious future

It became clear to Duffy and others that Ahern was going to have a serious future in politics.

“We are in the day jobs. He is going places, and we are not unless we tag along with him,” he told journalist Shane Coleman. Duffy did more than tag along. He was one of a group who devised a 20-year plan to make Ahern taoiseach. It came to pass exactly 20 years later in 1997.

He made a foray into electoral politics himself, standing in the Finglas ward in the local elections of 1979. It was a sobering experience. His pal Ahern topped the poll with 2,710 first preferences, while Duffy trailed along in 10th place with 462 votes. He didn’t try his hand at getting elected again.

From then on Duffy was a key member of the so called “Drumcondra Mafia” who ensured that Ahern became the dominant, poll-topping Fianna Fáil TD in Dublin Central. As Ahern’s star rose in the party, Duffy was never far away, and became his ministerial adviser at the Department of Finance in 1992.

When Ahern took over from Albert Reynolds as Fianna Fáil leader in 1994, Duffy became chef de cabinet and ran his office for the following three years. In a tribute after his death current Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin noted that “Paddy assembled a determined, hardworking and creative team that ultimately led Fianna Fáil back into government in 1997”.

One of his less successful ventures as the adviser to the leader of the opposition was his composition of a song The Man they call Ahern, which was designed to do for Bertie what Arise and Follow Charlie had done for Haughey. The muted reaction to the composition at a Fianna Fáil ardfheis ensured that it was quietly forgotten.

Special adviser

When Ahern became taoiseach in 1997 he appointed Duffy as his special adviser and speechwriter. It was a role he enjoyed, but in 1999 he left the taoiseach’s department to set up his own public relations company. In more recent years he also featured as a regular commentator on politics in the media.

Duffy was known in Leinster House for his sunny disposition and managed to maintain good relations not only with people in his own party but with members of the opposition and the media. He always fizzed with ideas and plans. As one of his friends remarked after his death: “Paddy didn’t just have two or three things on the go at the one time, but five or six.”

While he left full-time politics in 1999 he remained totally loyal to Ahern, and was on hand to provide supportive advice during the ups and downs of his friend’s political career over the following years.

He was in great form at his 75th birthday party in Malahide last month, attended by his family and friends, which is why his sudden death at Heathrow came as such a shock.

His is survived by his wife Margaret, three children Gavin, Caragh, Caitríona and six grandchildren.