The Punt: Honour where honour is due

Dermot Desmond

Top civil servant Padraig O hUiginn has again been honoured for his "outstanding contribution to financial services". The Punt's younger readers may not remember a time when civil servants made outstanding contributions to the business world, but then again O hUiginn, who is one of the fathers of the IFSC, is somewhat special.

O hUiginn was joined at a ceremony in his honour in the Merrion Hotel by billionaire investor Dermot Desmond, who first came up with the idea of a financial services centre when Charlie Haughey was Taoiseach.

The dynamic O hUiginn once told this newspaper in an interview that he served under three different leaders while he was secretary general in the Department of the Taoiseach from 1982 to 1993.

A comment from O hUiginn about "my 11 years working under three Taoisigh" prompted Tony O'Reilly to remark that "three Taoisigh worked under Padraig".