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Sat 07 Jul 2007Cabinet minister, classics scholar and multilinguistJohn Wilson,who has died aged 84, was a former tánaiste and government minister who regularly topped the poll during almost 20 years as TD for Cavan-Monaghan. A classics scholar, teacher and accomplished public speaker, with a knowledge of several languages, including Irish, Greek, Latin, Spanish and French, he was tipped at one time to be a future president or a candidate in any election for that office.In 1983, when it was unclear if Dr Patrick Hillery would serve a second term, he was favoured by many as the Fianna Fáil nominee.