Joining political leaders, President McAleese has conveyed a message of condolence to the Scottish Parliament on the death of First Minister, Mr Donald Dewar earlier today. The President has also written to his family. Donald Dewar died of a brain haemorrhage following an accident. Mr Dewar, who was 63, suffered serious head injuries in a fall outside his official residence and was placed on a life-support machine. The machine was switched off this afternoon. The decision was taken by Mr Dewar's children Ian and Marion after discussions with consultants.
Announcing the death, Mr Dewar's spokesman David Whitton said that Scotland had lost a great man. Mr Dewar, who was one of the main proponents of Scottish devolution, led the Labour/Liberal Democratic coalition government in Scotland since devolution last May. He was the first head of a Scottish Government since the Act of Union with England in 1707. The Scottish Secretary, John Reid, said that Donald Dewar was a determined man who had fought to recover after he underwent major surgery to repair a defective heart valve five months ago.
Mr Dewar had been on blood-thinning drugs as a consequence of his heart operation, and it appeared that this played a factor in the bleeding which was picked up by a CAT scan.
