Michael Mills (31 October 1927 – 13 April 2008) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who served as Ireland's first

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

for two terms beginning in 1984. He retired from the office in 1994. Mills grew up in

Mountmellick Mountmellick or Mountmellic () is a town in the north of County Laois, Ireland. It lies on the N80 national secondary road and the R422 and R423 regional roads. Name ''Mountmellick'', sometimes spelt ''Montmellick'' or ''Montmellic'', is a ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

. He initially trained to become a

Passionist The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and de ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. However, he abandoned that calling after catching tuberculosisA life near the centre of power
Irish Independent, 2005-12-10. in order to take a junior reporter job with the People newspaper group in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. He turned journalism into a full-time career and worked from 1964 as a reporter for ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' for over twenty years. When he corrected a mistake in a Dáil speech by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

he was not allowed to report again from the Dáil for seven years. Instead, he practiced drama criticism. Then he was appointed by De Valera's son, Vivion, as political correspondent of the newspaper, and went on to become its Political Editor. Former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

appointed Mills as Ireland's first Ombudsman in 1984. During his two terms in office, Mills investigated complaints from the public about local authorities, government departments and

health boards NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

. He retired in 1994 at the age of 67. He published his memoirs '' Hurler on the Ditch'' in 2005, which was also the name of a Teilifís Éireann programme on which he was one of the first panelists in the mid-1960s.RTÉ Radio 1 Press Pack Week 33 (12 – 18 August)
, RTÉ Press Centre, 2006-08-12. Mills, who lived in

Templeogue Templeogue () is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location The centre of Templeogue is from bo ...

, died at the age of 80 on 13 April 2008, after a short illness. He was survived by his wife, Bríd, and eight children. Tributes poured in from across Ireland on the news of his death. Former Taoiseach

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

called him a respected public servant and one of Ireland's finest journalists. Ombudsman

Emily O'Reilly Emily O'Reilly is an author and former journalist and broadcaster who became Ireland's first female Ombudsman in 2003, succeeding Kevin Murphy. On 3 July 2013, she was voted European Ombudsman by the European Parliament. She was re-elected ...

said that Mills laid the groundwork for the future and growth of the office she then occupied. Tributes were also paid by the

Irish Human Rights Commission The Irish Human Rights Commission has been merged with the Equality Authority. Both former organisations were dissolved and their functions transferred to a new statutory body, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission on 1 November 2014. The ...

and the Children's Rights Alliance.

Bibliography

* ''Hurler on the Ditch: From Journalist to Ombudsman'', memoir by Mills. Currach Press, 2005. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Michael 1927 births 2008 deaths Ombudsmen in the Republic of Ireland People from Mountmellick People from Templeogue The Irish Press people