Unintentional jester no stranger to controversy

In recent years, Ned O’Keeffe’s outspoken, colourful and sometimes erratic views provided much in the way of political light entertainment.

He became something of an unintentional jester — his blunt comments often subjected to ridicule or derision — which was a curious outcome for an astute politician and businessman who studied the pages of the Financial Times as closely as the newsletters in his constituency.

In Feb last year, in the midst of the general election, he said the country’s situation had become so bad that there was a real risk of a military coup.