Former Government Press Secretary PJ Mara, above at the launch of Fianna Fáil manifesto on Health during the 2002 General Election Campaign, has died.
PJ Mara obituary: flamboyant character who was central to FF for three decades (Irish Times)
Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews
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One of the greats. And the epitome of conviviality. May he rest in peace.
Had the privilege to meet Mr Mara. Whatever about the actions some of his employers carried out, he was a delight.
One of the best spin doctors seen in Ireland. By far the best at his job.
Right? The man was a machine. Kept all his contact details and notes in a tiny Moleskine that would fit in the palm of your hand.
I heard he kept his real face in a special sealed box under his desk. If you asked nicely, he would whip it out and show it off.
One of the greats? At what exactly? Running the Fianna Fail mafia? Spinning lies?
Lying to the Flood Tribunal. It’s a real art you know.
He walked on water…. or so it would seem if you listened to RTE radio this morning. Sam Smyth on describing the Haughey period, described them as the “golden years”.
He helped get elected many times the most corrupt party this country has ever seen. He was a charismatic man and good at his job. May he rest in piece.
I have no time for FF or it’s Lackeys, but one thing that hasn’t been mentioned or not maybe not known is involvement on the board on the early development in bringing and making the Special Olympics a success here in 2003.
I think the point is that the media is fawning over a man who was part of the most corrupt party the country has ever seen, lied in tribunals, and received dodgy payments from businessmen….. but if you listen to the radio, he was a saint….. Nothing wrong with giving balance to the eulogising in fairness.
Exactly. The Irish media always have difficulty in saying ‘he/she was not without their critics….’ but proceed to wax on lyrically about what a model person the deceased was; how they knew his father / bate him at hurlin’ / painted his gaff / served him cake / chuckled at his joke etc etc. Makes me puke. The man had credentials good and bad, and respect and condolences are befitting. But as a political and public figure, a lot of his actions were dubious.
Same with Albert Reynolds. I’d barely heard of him before he died, suddenly days of keening over how he was the greatest leader we ever had. Wasn’t he Taoiseach for like a summer?
My mother always taught me that if you’ve nothing good to say about someone then you should say it like it is and call them a bollox
“When on his game he really was… a master of the universe” …..according to a former underling on the 11am news bulletin on RTE radio.
Oh that’s charming. Google that term, “master of the universe”. See what pops up.
He-Man?
I’m only familiar with the term from the Tom Wolfe novel Bonfire Of The Vanities where it was a label deployed for Wall Street types.
…heard Bertie Ahern on radio this morning eulogising…I knew I’d heard Saoirse Ronan’s new accent somewhere before.
Snorts
How old is the baby he’s left behind? 2? 3?
Slimy bollox who was unfortunately was great at his job.
He’d a nice last few years….. flying around the Caribbean ‘working’ for aul DOB.
First Lemmy, then Bowie, then Alan Rickman — and now this. I’m totally gutted. PS How odd that the Irish Times in their obituary failed to mention the fact that he once referred to Geraldine Kennedy, Miriam Lord, and Nell McCafferty as “the cliterati.”
…ah here…Mara was a practitioner of the dark arts but he was no Professor Snape.