TK Whitaker: ‘A civil servant who did his best’

TK Whitaker, dubbed the “architect of modern Ireland”, wanted to be remembered simply as a civil servant who did his best, mourners at his funeral Mass heard.

Thomas Kenneth (TK) Whitaker died on Monday at the age of 100. Eminent figures in politics, justice, and finance were among hundreds who thronged the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook, Dublin, to pay their respects.

The late economist, credited with designing the blueprint of Ireland’s economic success, attended early morning Mass every day in the same church for decades, his friend and chief celebrant Fr Loman Mac Aodha told mourners.