County Tipperary Chamber - Doing Business In County Tipperary
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Meet Our Team
    • History
    • Meet Our Board
    • Our Mission Statement
    • About Tipperary
    • Contact
  • International Trade
    • Brexit and Certs of Origin- Chamber Update
  • Chamber Member Directory
    • Testimonials
    • Job Listings
  • Upcoming Events
    • Chamber Networking Event
    • Ukraine Appeal
    • Sustainability
    • County Tipperary Skillnet Courses
    • News >
      • Blog
      • Chamber Newsletter
      • Gallery
      • Chamber Video
  • County Tipperary Chamber Business Awards 2022
    • County Tipperary Chamber Business Awards Brochure 2022
    • Employer of the Year Distinction In Upskilling. Attracting Talent & Retention
    • Workplace Wellbeing, Diversity & Inclusion Award
    • CSR Community Impact Award
    • Startup of the Year Award
    • Digital Transformation Award: Wholesale, Retail, Transport
    • Industry 4.0 (Smart Manufacturing) Award
    • Energy Management Leadership Award
    • Agribusiness of the Year Award
    • Innovation Award
    • Social Enterprise of the Year Award
    • Outstanding Customer Experience Award

T.K. Whitaker: “Irishman of the 20th Century” R.I.P.

11/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Thomas Kenneth Whitaker was born in Rostrevor, County Down, on 8 December 1916.
In 1956 Whitaker was appointed Secretary of the Department of Finance at the age of thirty-nine. His appointment took place at a time when Ireland's economy was in deep depression. Economic growth was
non-existent, inflation apparently insoluble, unemployment rife, living standards low and emigration at a figure not far below the birth rate. Whitaker believed that free trade, with increased competition and the end of protectionism, would become inevitable and that jobs would have to be created by a shift from agriculture to industry and services. He formed a team of officials within the department which produced a detailed study of the economy, culminating in a plan recommending policies for improvement. The plan was accepted by the government and was transformed into a White Paper which became known as the First Programme for Economic Expansion, and quite unusually this was published with his name attached in November 1958. The programme became known as the "Grey Book" brought the stimulus of foreign investment into the Irish economy.
In 1977, the then Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Jack Lynch nominated Whitaker as a member of the 14th Seanad Éireann from 1977 to 1981, where he served as an independent (i.e. non-party) senator. In 1981 he was nominated to the 15th Seanad by the Fine Gael Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, where he served until 1982. FitzGerald also appointed him to chair a Committee of Inquiry into the Irish penal system, and he also chaired a Parole Board or Sentence Review Group for several years.
Whitaker also served as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland from 1976 to 1996. He was also President of the Royal Irish Academy and as such, a member of the Board of Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, from 1985 to 1987. He has had a very strong love for the Irish language throughout his career and the collection of Irish poetry, An Duanaire: Poems of the Dispossessed 1600-1900, edited by Seán Ó Tuama and Thomas Kinsella was dedicated to Whitaker. From 1995 to 1996 he chaired the Constitution Review Group, an independent expert group established by the government, which published its report in July 1996.
Whitaker received many national and international honours and tributes for his achievements during his lifetime, most notably the conferral of “Irishman of the 20th Century” in 2001 and Greatest Living Irish Person in 2002. In November 2014, the Institute of Banking conferred an Honorary Fellowship on Whitaker and created an annual T.K. Whitaker Scholarship in his name. In April 2015, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award by University College Dublin’s Economics Society for his outstanding contribution to Ireland’s Economic Policy.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Chamber News & Events

    Read some of our past events and posts,

    Categories

    All
    Apple Farm -TV3
    Bank Of Ireland Business Invite
    Bank Of Ireland Founder Friday Tipperary
    BARLO - FREE DRAW
    BOSTON SCIENTIFIC - Coaching As A Tool To Release Employee Potential
    Boston Scientific - Manufacturing Excellence - Leveraging High Value Resources/skill And Space.
    Chambers Ireland CSR Awards 2017
    Chambers Ireland Infrastructure Needs 12/7/2017
    Chambers Ireland SBIR
    Chambers Ireland Summer Economic Statement 12/7/2017
    Clonmel Chamber Members
    Clonmel Healthcare
    Coty Cosmetics
    David Shanahan - New CEO!
    Deirdre Clune MEP Visit
    Denis Casey - A Hard Brexit Is Coming
    EBS Clonmel Information Events
    Eirechrom
    Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers
    FIELDMASTER 40 Years In Business
    HORAN AUTOMATION: Collaborative Robots: Fad Or Revolution
    Horan Automation: PRESS RELEASE
    Horan Automation Vacancy
    Horan Automation Video
    Hotel Minella
    LEO Tipperary - Retail Retreat
    L.I.T. 'The Stress Test' Programme
    Membership Services Admin
    Merry's Irish Cream Liqueur
    METIS IRELAND - AHEAD OF THE CURVE
    Metis Ireland AMRF
    Michael Clinton RIP
    MORRISON BMW - Red Tag Event
    Nationalist - Yesteryears Launch
    Network Manager County Tipperary Skillnet
    OGBP Michelle Lawton Partner
    O'Sullivan Insurance Newsletter 13/7/2017
    PULSE LOGISTICS - EXPO SPONSOR
    PWM Award Winner
    Ryan Motor Power - Skoda Dealer Of The Year
    Simon Coveney Visit
    South East Action Plan For Jobs Marketing And Branding Initiative
    South Tipperary Hospice Movement
    Tom Pollard RIP
    Virgin Media Announces FREE Public Wifi In Major Digital Upgrade For Clonmel
    WARD GROUP - GDPR

    RSS Feed

site map


  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • News
  • International Trade
  • Chamber Members
  • Events
  • County Tipperary Skillnet
  • Contact

Location


County Tipperary Chamber of commerce

Questum Acceleration Centre,
Ballingarranne Science & Technology Park, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary,
E91 V329

Contact Us


Email
ceo@countytipperarychamber.com

Call
0526126500

    Subscribe TO OUR NEWSLETTER Today!

Submit
Clonmel Chamber Of Commerce CLG t/a County Tipperary Chamber Of Commerce - Registered business-110743
​REGISTERED BUSINESS ADDRESS: Questum Acceleration Centre, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, E91 V329
Copyright © 2016 - County Tipperary Chamber
Picture
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Meet Our Team
    • History
    • Meet Our Board
    • Our Mission Statement
    • About Tipperary
    • Contact
  • International Trade
    • Brexit and Certs of Origin- Chamber Update
  • Chamber Member Directory
    • Testimonials
    • Job Listings
  • Upcoming Events
    • Chamber Networking Event
    • Ukraine Appeal
    • Sustainability
    • County Tipperary Skillnet Courses
    • News >
      • Blog
      • Chamber Newsletter
      • Gallery
      • Chamber Video
  • County Tipperary Chamber Business Awards 2022
    • County Tipperary Chamber Business Awards Brochure 2022
    • Employer of the Year Distinction In Upskilling. Attracting Talent & Retention
    • Workplace Wellbeing, Diversity & Inclusion Award
    • CSR Community Impact Award
    • Startup of the Year Award
    • Digital Transformation Award: Wholesale, Retail, Transport
    • Industry 4.0 (Smart Manufacturing) Award
    • Energy Management Leadership Award
    • Agribusiness of the Year Award
    • Innovation Award
    • Social Enterprise of the Year Award
    • Outstanding Customer Experience Award