

Pages: 434
ISBN: 9781905483686
Pub Date: June 2014
Imprint: Liberties Press
Price:
£27.99
Usually available in 6-8 weeks
Pages: 434
ISBN: 9781907593239
Pub Date: March 2015
Imprint: Liberties Press
Price:
£17.99
Usually available in 6-8 weeks
Description:
In this personal memoir, the twice former Taoiseach speaks candidly of his family life, his experience and his estimation of the many national and international figures he has encountered through his long and distinguished career. Dr. FitzGerald writes frankly about his upbringing, his parents, his involvement in the Independence movement, their disagreements about the Treaty, his early years in school and college and his gradual entry into politics. He reflects honestly on his time as minister for Foreign Affairs, and later on his tenure as Taoiseach. The book includes new material and opinion on key figures such as Charles Haughey, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, as well as his role in the emerging peace in Northern Ireland, Ireland's role in the EU and Garret's advocacy in the referendas on the European Union also feature. His memoir gently lifts the layers of his public life back to reveal a much-cherished family life and the huge influence his wife Joan had on his career, rendering a portrait of an informal, humane and witty person who was an ever compelling voice in Irish public affairs right up until his passing in May, 2011.
Here is Garret FitzGerald the person - from the young newlywed in his first job, to the Taoiseach grappling with economic crises and dealing with world leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Just Garret is the personal account of the public and private lives of a man who led his country through a hugely turbulent period of history - always with intelligence and finesse. FitzGerald reflects candidly on his hugely varied career: his central role in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Ireland’s place in the EU on the global stage, and the threat posed to the state by IRA atrocities. He writes of the lighter moments of his professional life - including the discovery of spies in the Stillorgan Shopping Centre. Even after such a full political life, FitzGerald remained fully engaged with Irish society and politics, bringing his characteristic steady hand and razor-sharp insight to the issues of the day in his weekly Irish Times column and elsewhere. In these troubled times, where cynicism and disillusionment are sometimes in the ascendant, here are valuable words of wisdom and experience from someone who had seen it all before - and who always remained determinedly optimistic about Ireland’s future. This new, revised edition of the best-selling autobiography features numerous previously unpublished family photographs, Father Enda McDonagh's eulogy given at Dr FitzGerald’s funeral, and a reflection by Garret FitzGerald on his beloved wife, Joan.