Former chairman and chief executive of ESB dies aged 71

THE former chairman and chief executive of the ESB, Dr Paddy Moriarty, has died at the age of 71. In more than half a century with the semi state company, he served as chief executive from 1981 until 1991. He was chairman from then until January 1996.

Born in Dingle, Co Kerry, Dr Moriarty was also a chairman of the RTE Authority. from 1979 to 1981. His many other achievements in public life included chairing the Government Task Force appointed to implement the Culliton Report on industrial policy in the early 1990s.

He is survived by his wife Esther O'Sullivan and five children; and by his sisters and brothers, including the RTE commentator, Mr Micheal O Muircheartaigh.

Educated by the Christian Brothers, he left school with what he described as "a good Leaving Cert". But in a 1995 interview he recalled: "Family fortunes did not enable me to go to university, so it was a question of getting some job or heading for the Statue of Liberty, as all my predecessors had done for generations."

He found that job in an ESB clerkship, joining the company on a salary of £2 95 7d in June 1945. Encouraged by his employers, he studied at the Rathmines School of Commerce in Dublin and qualified with the Chartered Institute of Secretaries.

Before joining ESB management, however, he was an active trade unionist in the company; first joining the Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks and then being a founding member of the ESB Officials' Association. He believed strong trade unions were "necessary institutions in a democratic society" and went on to become chairman of the National College of Industrial Relations in 1991.

He travelled widely, lecturing in many countries and strongly promoting the ESB's international consultancy business. His lifetime of achievement was recognised with an honorary doctorate (LL.D) from University College, Dublin in 1988.

A board member of Leopardstown Racecourse, he was an enthusiastic follower of racing and many other sports. He was also an accomplished golfer and had been both captain and president of Grange Golf Club in Dublin.

A former board member of both Siamsa Tire and Kerry Airport and chairman of a foundation to preserve the heritage of the Blasket Islands, he was named Kerry Person of the Year in 1991. His county loyalties even extended to his art collection: an art lover who decorated his office with paintings, he gave pride of place to a bronze bust of his fellow Kerryman, journalist Con Houlihan. The ESB chief executive, Mr Joe Moran, said Dr Moriarty's "illustrious career, spanning over 50 years, made an enormous contribution not only to the growth and development of the ESB but also to the development of Ireland".

The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said: "Not only did Paddy Moriarty give an extraordinary lifetime of service to the ESB, but his contribution to the wider public sector, most notably in his role as chairman of the RTE Authority, was exemplary".