Louis Smith R.I.P.

Word just in of the death of Professor Louis Smith, formerly of UCD.

Students and colleagues will remember Louis with affection and admiration. As a teacher he was bright and enthusiastic: sometimes impenetrable, sometimes absent-minded, but always very engaging.  As a colleague he was obliging and cheerful.

Louis was an able and original commentator on policy issues. He was passionate about agricultural cooperatives and about ‘Europe’.  His early and influential role in the debate about the link with sterling should not be forgotten.

His funeral takes place in Donnybrook church tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Sympathies to his family.  Reminiscences about Louis welcome: ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann, cinnte!

7 replies on “Louis Smith R.I.P.”

Sad news – I will miss the funeral unfortunately. Louis was a great source of encouragement to a generation of students, ni fheicimid a leithead aris.

I was very sorry to learn of Louis’ demise – and of Sheila’s earlier death.
Louis was supportive to me when I joined the economics department in 1980. However, he drew the line at my campaign to change the name from ‘Department of Political Economy’ to ‘Department of Economics’!
He urged me to broaden the subject of ‘National Economics’ to compare the structure and performance of key European economies, which is certainly in line with how the subject has developed.
Students enjoyed his lectures and he strove to get to know them personally even in those days of burgeoning enrollments. I recall that when driving from Belfield into town with him he would slow down to see if recognized any students at the bus stop. If he did he gave them a lift.

I also am very sorry to learn that Louis has passed away and I regret that I was unable to attend his funeral today. As a member of the Irish Council of the European Movement he commissioned one of my very first research papers on the EU’s external trade policy. We shared an interest in agricultural economics and policy, of course, and he was a regular attender at meetings of the Agricultural Economics Society of Ireland. It was therefore a special pleasure when we elected Louis as one of the Society’s few Honorary Members at our Annual Conference just last month in recognition of his many contributions.

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