Mick Clifford: John Bruton excelled in government that guided Ireland into modernity

What if the 'Rainbow coalition' of Fine Gael-Labour-Democratic Left had managed to get re-elected in 1997? Would Bruton have gone on to better things?

The big question that will always hang around John Bruton's legacy is how different might the subsequent state have been had his government been re-elected. File photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

John Bruton won’t be remembered as a charismatic or widely revered leader. He would not have been among Napoleon Bonaparte’s favourites, as, for the greater part, he was never a lucky general. But he was a good leader, one who grabbed with both hands the opportunity when it arose to fulfill his destiny to serve as Taoiseach. 

In doing so he excelled as the leader of government that acted as midwife to the birth of the Republic as a modern society and economy.