The condition of former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, who is ill in a Dublin hospital, has improved, a statement issued on behalf of his family has said.
Dr FitzGerald (85) was taken off a ventilator yesterday and no longer requires assistance in breathing.
His family are “hopeful but cautious”.
Dr FitzGerald served two terms as taoiseach. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969 after previously serving in Seanad Éireann to which he was elected in the 1965.
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He served as taoiseach from July 1981 to February 1982 and from December 1982 to June 1987. He negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement with former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985.