Tributes paid following the death of former Fianna Fáil minister Kit Ahern

THE death occurred yesterday of former Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry North, Kit Ahern (née Liston).

Aged 92, she was the oldest living former Oireachtas member.

A native of Athea, Co Limerick, she unsuccessfully contested general elections in 1965, 1969 and 1973 before being elected in 1977 in the FF landslide under the then taoiseach Jack Lynch.

It was also the first time two Fianna Fáil TDs were elected in the Kerry constituency, the other being Tom McEllistrim Jnr.

Ms Ahern only served one term as a TD as she lost her seat in 1981 and retired from national politics. FF has failed to win a second seat in the constituency since.

She was a member of Kerry County Council and lived in Ballybunion. She was predeceased by her husband, Dan Ahern, a national school teacher.

An ardent supporter of former FF and PD minister Des O’Malley, she left FF to join the Progressive Democrats when he established the party in 1985.

Listowel-based FF senator Ned O’Sullivan said she was a highly principled woman who would never do anything unless it was 100% above board.

“Kit Ahern had more integrity in her little finger than most of us have in our entire bodies,” he said.

She first became involved in politics in 1963 when she was nominated to the Seanad by the then Taoiseach Seán Lemass, a seat she retained at every election until 1977.

Educated in Athea and the College of Art, in Dublin, she qualified as a teacher. She was actively involved with the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA), becoming its president.

Ms Ahern, a lifelong promoter of the Irish language and culture, was the aunt of the former Kerry football star Eoin Liston.