Tributes have been paid to a former union representative at Waterford Crystal who was found dead at a residential property in Co Waterford last Friday.
Pat Fitzgerald, who was a widower in his 70s, was found unresponsive at the property on Friday.
He was taken to University Hospital Waterford for treatment but died yesterday.
Councillor Donal Barry of Waterford City South worked alongside Mr Fitzgerald for many years. The Independent councillor said that Pat was a trade union representative at the factory.
"Pat started his career in Waterford Crystal as a blower. He was then a full-time union official in the plant.
"There was 3,500 of us [employees] there at one stage and Pat was highly respected among all the workforce and even by management. He did an awful lot of good work with the union then," said Mr Barry.
Mr Fitzgerald was also a former branch chairman of UNITE, formerly the ATGWU. He was the chair of the 364 branch of the UNITE trade union in 2009 when Waterford Crystal workers occupied the plant.
"He was a fantastic union official and was well known throughout the country in the former ATGWU. He was [involved in the sit-in] until the very end," said Mr Barry.
The sit-in began on 30 January 2009 after the company's receiver shut down manufacturing after running out of cash. The sit-in lasted close to two months and ended after workers agreed to split a payment of €10m.
A senior investigating officer is leading the garda investigation and a family liaison officer is providing support to Mr Fitzgerald's family.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Waterford Garda Station on 051 305 300 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
