'His love of everything Irish embraces every aspect of culture' - TK Whitaker turns 100

President Michael D Higgins has paid tribute to TK Whitaker who celebrates his 100th birthday today.

The president said Whitaker's life has been "exemplary in every way". "It is a life served for public welfare, and it contributed to virtually every aspect of Irish life," President Higgins said.

At the age of 39 in 1956, Whitaker became secretary of the Department of Finance. He is best known for his seminal paper of 1958 ‘Economic Development’ which heavily influenced ‘The First Programme for Economic Expansion 1958-63’ which changed Ireland’s Economic policy.

Known for his common touch, Whitaker's tenure as Governor of the Central Bank was throughout a period of economic instability in the 1970s during which he successfully saw off government attempts to obtain statutory control over the implementation of credit policy. Whitaker told the Minister for Finance of the time he "did not consider to be in the national interest".

Later he would play a behind-the-scenes role in the search for peace in Northern Ireland between 1967 and 1997.

President Higgins said: "His standard for the public service impressed all as a standard of the highest kind. His involvement in peace-building in Northern Ireland from the first meetings of senior politicians, through his paper ‘Possible Solutions’, and his patient construction of the spaces for dialogue was a major contribution of which on his 100th birthday he can be proud.

"His love of everything Irish – poetry, language, nature – embraces every aspect of culture.

"When called upon in what might, for others, have been retirement, he gave service that aimed at inclusion and the betterment of the human condition. Be it Chairing the Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System, Chairing Bord na Gaeilge, Chairing the Constitution Review Group, as President of The Economic and Social Research Institute, as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, his experience and wisdom was invaluable.

"Those of us who enjoy the privilege of knowing him have always been struck by his great personal charm. He has a sense of humour that is always so close when he offers opinions that can always be relied upon to be the reflection of a highly intellectual and committed lover of Irish people, and things Irish.

"On his century a great man has placed an indelible and generous mark on Irish life and Irish people of all ages will want to unite in wishing him a Happy Birthday."