Pat Magner, former Labour senator and national organiser, dies aged 82

Pat Magner, the former Labour Party senator and national organiser, has died, the party has announced. He was 82.

The Cork native was nominated as a senator on three occasions, but it was as a backroom operator and organiser that he was best known. A gregarious figure, he was popular across political divides, with friends in all parties.

Mr Magner was a key member of Dick Spring’s team during the 1980s and 1990s, but also served under subsequent Labour leaders Ruairí Quinn and Pat Rabbitte. He retired from day to day involvement in 2006, but maintained his interest in the party and in politics more generally.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik paid tribute to Mr Magner’s “long-standing and substantial commitment” to the Labour Party.

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“We will all miss him greatly and will remember him with immense affection and appreciation for his enormous contribution to public life as a Senator and political activist,” she said.

“First joining the Party in 1959, Pat went on to serve as our National Organiser and played a crucial role in many successful elections. He served three times as a Senator, and was involved in the Administrative Council and many other internal committees where he always worked for the best interests of our Party.

“Pat was a loyal and trusted servant to the Labour Party over many decades, and a great friend and confidant to many. He will be remembered as a close ally of former Party Leader Dick Spring and for the immense work he did to build the Party into an electoral force. He could always be relied upon to resolve political difficulties in constituencies and branches, ensuring election tickets were sorted. Pat was not just held in high regard within the Labour Party but also by politicians from across the political spectrum.”

The former Labour leader and long-time colleague of Mr Magner, Wexford TD Brendan Howlin said he “embodied all that was good and progressive in the Labour Party”.

“An organiser without equal, he helped provide some of our best days,” he said citing the election of Mary Robinson as president in 1990 and the general election of 1992, which he said “reshaped Ireland”.

He will miss “a friend and adviser”, he said, “wise and always great fun”.

Mr Magner is survived by his wife Anne and their children Bill, Deirdre, Dylan, Eamonn, Eric, John, Lisa and Richard; his siblings Pauline and Noel, grandchildren and extended family. His funeral Mass will take place at St Patrick’s Church in Monkstown, Dublin on Friday at 10am.