The Irish Rising

1916 Easter Rising made Irish violent, says former Irish leader

2014-07-02T15:20:00.002-05:00

John Bruton

An article in IrishCentral.com dated 2 July 2014 by James O'Shea stated:

The Easter Rising damaged the Irish psyche and made people more pro-violence, former Irish leader John Bruton has said.

He was speaking in London at a conference on the 1914 Home Rule Act passed by the British houses of parliament but never enacted.

People must consider the damage to the Irish psyche, Bruton said of the Easter Rising.

"If there hadn’t been the introduction of violence into nationalism in that demonstrably dramatic fashion then there wouldn’t have been a Civil War," Bruton said.

He also slammed Irish Republican hero Patrick Pearse, saying his bent towards violence had later been used to justify the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).

“I read what Pearse had said about violence, he praised the Ulster Volunteers (armed loyalists)…saying this was a great day that they were armed. He couldn’t have been more wrong,” Bruton said.

The event was originally meant to be held at the House of Commons Speaker’s residence, but John Bercow refused to allow Sinn Fein saying they had refused to take their seats in the House of Commons.

It was held at the Irish Embassy instead.

The issue I have with Bruton is that he does not consider the hundreds of years of British occupation. While Pearse may have been pro-violence toward the occupiers, he was also pro-Ireland.

Tribute to James Connolly

2014-02-25T20:59:00.003-06:00

Whilst I do not necessarily adhere to the Socialist ideology, this blog is dedicated to the framers of the Irish Rising of 1916, of which Connolly was an integral part.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - John Bruton

2014-02-09T16:46:00.000-06:00

John Bruton

Taoiseach John Bruton

John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance (1981–1982 and 1986–1987), and Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983–1986). He became leader of Fine Gael in 1990 and served as Taoiseach from 1994 until 1997, leading the Rainbow Coalition government of Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left.

Bruton was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a TD for Meath in 1969, and served continuously until his retirement from domestic politics in 2004. He served as the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004–2009, and is a former Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP).

John Gerard Bruton was born to a wealthy, Catholic farming family in Dunboyne, County Meath and educated at Clongowes Wood College.

Oliver Coogan notes in his Politics and War in Meath 1913–23 that Bruton's granduncle was one of the farmers in south Meath who prevented the traditionally Anglo-Irish ascendency hunt from proceeding in the area during the Irish War of Independence.

Bruton later went on to study at University College Dublin where he received an honours Bachelor of Arts degree and qualified as a barrister from King's Inns, but never went on to practice law. Bruton was narrowly elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1969 general election as a Fine Gael TD for Meath. At the age of 22 he was one of the youngest ever members of the Dáil at that time. He more than doubled his vote in the general election of 1973, which brought Fine Gael to power as part of the National Coalition with the Labour Party. Bruton was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and to the Minister for Education, by the National Coalition in 1973. He remained in office until 1977.

He is married to Finola Bruton and they have four children.

Following Fine Gael's defeat at the 1977 general election, Bruton was appointed to the new front bench as Spokesperson on Agriculture by its new leader, Garret FitzGerald. He was later promoted to the shadow Finance portfolio, making a particular effective speech in the Dáil in response to the budget of 1980. He played a prominent role in Fine Gael's campaign in the 1981 general election which resulted in another coalition with the Labour Party and with FitzGerald as Taoiseach. Bruton received a huge personal vote in Meath, and at the age of only 34 was appointed Minister for Finance, the most senior position in the Cabinet. The new government had to abandon its election promises to cut taxes in the light of overwhelming economic realities. The government collapsed unexpectedly on the night of 27 January 1982 when Bruton's controversial Budget was defeated in the Dáil. The previously supportive independent socialist TD, Jim Kemmy, voted against the Budget, which proposed among other things the introduction of VAT on children's shoes, thus causing the Dáil to be dissolved and Fine Gael to lose power.

The minority Fianna Fáil government which followed only lasted until November 1982 when Fine Gael once again returned to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party but when the new government was formed Bruton was moved from Finance to become Minister for Industry and Energy. The following year (1983), Energy became a separate Department and Bruton's brief became Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism. A 1986 Cabinet re-shuffle saw Bruton return as Minister for Finance. Although he was Minister for Finance, Bruton never presented his Budget. The Labour Party withdrew from the government due to a disagreement over his budget proposals leading to the collapse of the government and another election.

Following the 1987 general election Fine Gael suffered a heavy defeat. Garret FitzGerald resigned as leader immediately, and a leadership contest ensued between Alan Dukes, Peter Barry and Bruton himself. The exact result of the vote was not published. This was a severe blow as the victor, Dukes, was, like Bruton, one of the younger generation of politicians (albeit a couple of years older than Bruton) but had been a TD for 12 years fewer. Bruton was of Fine Gael's Christian Democrat tradition, whereas Dukes was in FitzGerald's Social Democratic mould. Dukes was perceived to be a lacklustre leader however, who alienated his party's TDs and made little progress in recovering the ground lost by Fine Gael in 1987. His Tallaght Strategy where he stated that he would support Fianna Fail on economic reforms was also unpopular. The disastrous performance in the 1990 presidential election in which the party finished a humiliating and unprecedented third in a national election,proved to be the final straw for the party and Dukes forced to resign as leader shortly after. Bruton, who was the deputy-leader of Fine Gael at the time, was unopposed in the ensuing leadership election.

Whereas Dukes came from the social democratic wing of Fine Gael, Bruton came from the more conservative wing. However to the surprise of critics and of conservatives, in his first policy initiative he called for a referendum on a Constitutional amendment permitting the enactment of legislation allowing for divorce in Ireland.

Fine Gael had been in decline for nearly a decade; from the highpoint of the November 1982 general election when it achieved 70 seats in Dáil Éireann, only five seats short of Fianna Fáil's total the party had lost a considerable number of seats. Following the inexperienced Dukes' disastrous period of leadership, Bruton's election was seen as offering Fine Gael a chance to rebuild under a far more politically experienced leader. However Bruton's perceived right wing persona and his rural background was used against him by critics and particularly by the media.

By the 1992 general election, the anti-Fianna Fáil mood in the country produced a major swing to the opposition, but that support went to Labour, not Bruton's Fine Gael, which actually lost a further 10 seats. Due to deadlocked negotiations for government which stemmed in part from Labour Party's refusal to be part of a coalition which would include the liberal conservative Progressive Democrats and due to John Bruton ruling out Labour's preference for Democratic Left to be included in the government, the Labour Party chose to enter into a new coalition with Fianna Fáil. It was a humiliating blow to Bruton. Fine Gael, and Bruton personally, continued to perform poorly in opinion polls throughout 1993 and early 1994 and Bruton narrowly survived a challenge to his leadership in early 1994. However a couple of by-election victories, and a good performance in the 1994 European elections, coupled with a disastrous showing by the Labour Party, shored up his position. When in late 1994 the government collapsed, Bruton was able to form a government with the Labour Party and Democratic Left. Bruton faced charges of hypocrisy for agreeing to enter government with Democratic Left, as Fine Gael campaigned in the 1992 general election on a promise not to enter government with the party. Nevertheless, on 15 December, aged 47, Bruton became the then youngest ever Taoiseach. This was the first time in the history of the state that a new government was installed without a general election being held.

Bruton's politics were markedly different from most Irish leaders. Whereas most leaders had come from or identified with the independence movement Sinn Féin (in its 1917–22 phase), Bruton identified more with the more moderate Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) tradition that Sinn Féin had eclipsed at the 1918 general election. He hung a picture of his political hero, the IPP's leader John Redmond on a wall in his office as Taoiseach, in preference to other figures such as Patrick Pearse. But as evidence of Bruton's complexity, he also kept a picture of former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Seán Lemass, which had been hung there by Reynolds, and which Bruton kept because he viewed Lemass as the best and most reforming Taoiseach in the history of the state.

Bruton's Rainbow Coalition was generally perceived to be a good government, with Bruton, who was meant to have had a bad relationship with Tánaiste Dick Spring, being seen as its star performer. His popularity soared while he and Spring (along with Proinsias De Rossa, leader of Democratic Left) were seen as an effective team. Constitutional reform was also on the government's agenda when a referendum to abolish the prohibition on divorce was passed by a narrow majority.

Continued developments in the Northern Ireland peace process and his attitude to Anglo-Irish relations came to define Bruton's tenure as Taoiseach. In February 1995 he launched the Anglo-Irish 'Framework Document' with the British Prime Minister, John Major. This document outlined new proposed relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Many of Bruton's opponents considered him to be too willing to accommodate unionist demands (in one famous accusation, Albert Reynolds referred to him as "John Unionist"). However, he took a strongly critical position on the British Government's reluctance to engage with Sinn Féin during the IRA's 1994–1997 ceasefire. Bruton complained to a local radio reporter in Cork that "I am sick of answering questions about the fucking peace process", for which he later apologized.

Bruton also established a working relationship with Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, however both were mutually distrustful of each other. The relationship became frayed following the ending of the ceasefire in 1996, resulting in a bomb explosion in London. These relations worsened when the IRA killed Jerry McCabe, a member of An Garda Síochána, in a botched post office robbery in County Limerick, and another bomb explosion in Manchester. However, Bruton received widespread praise in the Republic for condemning the Royal Ulster Constabulary for yielding to loyalist threats at Drumcree by allowing members of the Orange Order to parade through a nationalist district. He stated that the RUC had been neither impartial nor consistent in applying the law. His outrage and criticism led to a tense atmosphere between London and Dublin. By the time of the 1997 general election Sinn Féin stated that they would prefer a Fianna Fáil led government and the IRA resumed their ceasefire soon after Fine Gael lost the 1997 general election.

He also presided over a successful Irish Presidency of the European Union in 1996 and helped finalise the Stability and Growth Pact, which establishes macroeconomic parameters for countries participating in the single European currency, the euro. Bruton was the fifth Irish leader to address a joint session of the United States Congress on 11 September 1996, as the 30th head of state or government of an EU country to do so since 1945.

Bruton's government suffered from some allegations of corruption, and political embarrassment. In 1996 his Minister for Transport, Michael Lowry, resigned from the Cabinet after allegations that he had not paid income tax on payments from the supermarket tycoon, Ben Dunne for work he had done for him as a businessman prior to becoming a minister. His minister of state in the Department of Finance also resigned, on 9 February 1995, as a result of leaks from the department. Additionally, many years later Frank Dunlop made allegations before the planning tribunal that he had informed Bruton about demands for a £250,000 bribe made to him by a Fine Gael Dublin councillor, Tom Hand, to rezone the Quarryvale development. Dunlop testified that when he informed Bruton of the bribery attempts, Bruton replied, "There are no angels in the world or in Fine Gael". Bruton vehemently denied this and Fine Gael counsel told the Planning Tribunal in 2003: "I refute entirely Mr Dunlop's contention that he advised me then of the alleged demand made to him by the late Tom Hand". However, following further evidence at the Tribunal, Bruton returned to it in October 2007 and conceded that "it gradually came back to me", that Dunlop, "did say to me something about a councillor looking for money". But, in his own evidence to the tribunal in 2007, Dunlop himself said that he had not mentioned any figure of 250,000 to Bruton in his 1993 conversation with him.

Bruton presided over the first official visit by a member of the British Royal Family since 1912, the Prince of Wales. His welcome speech to Prince Charles was viewed by many journalists negatively in Ireland. In Britain, The Times of London accused him of being "embarrassingly effusive" while The Guardian lambasted that Bruton get a grip on his "extravagantly nonsensical attitudes". Bruton himself viewed the fact that the heir to the British throne could visit the Republic successfully, as marking an important turning point in Anglo Irish relations and stands over the comments he made as appropriate in the circumstances.

Following the murder of crime journalist Veronica Guerin, his government established the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The government was widely expected to win re-election in 1997. While Fine Gael gained nine seats, Labour was severely mauled, losing 16 seats. This left Bruton far short of the parliamentary support he needed to retain office, and he resigned. A Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat coalition led by Bertie Ahern came into power, with Bruton reverting to leadership of the opposition.

Fine Gael became paralysed in opposition. Bruton was deposed from leadership in 2001 in favour of Michael Noonan, due in part to fears Fine Gael would suffer severe losses in the 2002 election. However, Noonan failed to live up to expectations and the party suffered an even greater collapse than had been expected under Bruton. Having gone into the election expecting to increase its seat count from 54 to 60, it only won 31. This not only tied Fine Gael's second-worst performance in an election, but was 39 seats less than at its highpoint twenty years earlier in 1982.

Bruton, a passionate supporter of European integration, was chosen as one of the two Irish Parliament Representatives to the European Convention which helped draft the proposed European Constitution. He was one of two National Parliament Representatives to sit on the 12-member Praesidium, which helped steer the European Convention. He is a member of the Comite d'Honneur of the Institute of European Affairs, along with Peter Sutherland and Bertie Ahern. He accepted an offer to become European Union ambassador to the United States in the summer of 2004, and after resigning from the Dáil on 31 October 2004, he assumed that office. Bruton was praised by Ahern, who said Bruton had played "a pivotal role in developing Ireland's relations with the European Union."

Bruton received an Honorary Doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003 and from the University of Missouri in 2009.

He became an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society before leaving for the US in 2004. He regularly lectures at national and international universities. In early 2004 he accepted a position as Adjunct Faculty Member in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. In November 2008, he received the Order of the Polar Star award from the Swedish government.

His brother, Richard Bruton, was formerly deputy leader of Fine Gael.

On 29 October 2009, it was announced that he had written to the ambassadors to the United States of the 27 members of the European Union expressing his interest in applying for the position of president of the European Council following implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. Bruton was very much an outside shot for the position as EU leaders firmly indicated they want a chairman-style president rather than a high-profile figurehead to fill the post. Herman Van Rompuy, the then Belgian Prime Minister, was appointed President on 19 November 2009 and took office on 1 December 2009.

On 21 May 2010, it was announced that he would be the chairman of the newly formed financial services body, IFSC Ireland. His main role will be to promote the Republic of Ireland as a location of choice for international financial services.

Bruton was widely discussed as a candidate for the 2011 presidential election and was approached by Fine Gael with the opportunity to become their candidate; on 28 May 2011, however, Bruton issued a statement that he was "flattered" to be asked, but would not be a candidate for the presidency.

Since November 2011, Bruton acts as an advisor to Fairobserver focusing mainly on the areas of politics, finance and economics as well as on issues pertaining to Europe.

Bruton receives annual pension payments of €141,849.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Martin Finn

2014-02-09T16:21:00.002-06:00

Martin Finn (22 August 1917 – 7 March 1988) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, farmer and auctioneer. He was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Mayo East constituency at the 1969 general election and was re-elected at the 1973 general election. He lost his seat at the 1977 general election but was nominated by the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave to the 13th Seanad.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael J. Noonan

2014-02-09T16:13:00.000-06:00

Michael J. Noonan (4 August 1935 – 17 September 2013) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He served as Minister for Defence from 1987 until 1989.

Michael J. Noonan was born in Bruff, County Limerick in 1935. He was educated locally at Salesian College in Limerick, before graduating from University College Cork with a Diploma in Rural Science. Following his education Noonan worked as a farmer before becoming involved in politics. He first entered local politics when he was elected to Limerick County Council in 1967 and remained a member of this council until 1991. Noonan was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Limerick West constituency at the 1969 general election.

Noonan was a supporter of Charles Haughey in the Fianna Fáil leadership election in 1979. He was rewarded by Haughey by joining the party's front bench in 1983 as spokesperson on Agriculture. Noonan was appointed Minister for Defence in 1987. He caused some controversy in this role and got into conflict with the Irish Army over the issue of pay. After the 1989 general election when Fianna Fáil went into coalition with the Progressive Democrats, Noonan was the major casualty to accommodate the new ministers. He was appointed a Minister of State and remained in this office until 1992. When Albert Reynolds became Taoiseach, Noonan was sacked.

Noonan subsequently retired to the backbenches. He remained a controversial figure by voting against the Divorce referendum bill in the Dáil and lost the Fianna Fáil party whip as a result. He retired from political life at the 1997 general election.

He died on 17 September 2013.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael Herbert

2014-02-09T16:06:00.000-06:00

Michael Herbert (17 May 1925 – 20 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.

A publican from Castleconnell, County Limerick, he unsuccessfully contested the 1965 general election and was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick East constituency. He was re-elected for the constituency until the 1981 general election when he did not stand for re-election. He was again unsuccessful in the November 1982 election.

While a TD, Herbert served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1973 to 1979, being appointed to Ireland's first delegation, second delegation and third delegation.

In the first direct elections to the European Parliament in December 1979 he stood in the Munster constituency but was not elected.

He played hurling as a full-back with the Limerick Senior Hurling team, with whom he won a National Hurling League medal in 1947, and also with his local club Ahane. He retired prematurely from the game following a serious head injury sustained in a club match in 1949. His brothers Seán Herbert and Tony Herbert were also hurlers with Limerick and his son Turlough Herbert was a member of the Limerick senior hurling panel for the 1994 All-Ireland final.

Michael Herbert died in 2006, aged 81.

International Great Hunger commemoration to be held in New Orleans

2014-01-05T18:09:00.001-06:00

Depiction of a family during the Irish potato famine

In an article in IrishCentral.com by Jane Walsh subtitled

"Ireland and New Orleans share a common bond of suffering and loss, and a spirit of endurance and hope in the face of catastrophe" writes:

Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, has announced that New Orleans – one of the oldest and most prominent cities in the United States – will be the location of the 2014 International Famine Commemoration.

Deenihan said “‘As Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, I am very much looking forward to working with the ‘Irish Network of New Orleans’, the city’s Hibernian groups and the local community to make the arrangements for next year’s International Famine Commemoration programme. I am sure it will be a very special and moving tribute to those who suffered and perished during the Great Irish Famine and also a vibrant celebration of the immense achievements of those who emigrated and their descendants who built new lives in their adopted homes in New Orleans and across the Southern United States’.

“The people of Ireland and New Orleans share a common bond of suffering and loss, and a spirit of endurance and hope in the face of catastrophe. The failure of the potato crop during the 1840s was a transforming event in Ireland, which changed the demographic and cultural landscape forever. Thousands of Irish people emigrated to New Orleans and between 1840 and 1860, New Orleans had a higher per capita Irish population than Boston or Philadelphia.

“The Irish Channel remains the centre of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in New Orleans today.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Irish people extended the same compassion and generosity to the people of New Orleans that our ancestors received during the most desolate period in our nation’s history. Indeed, the Irish Government committed €1 million to disaster relief in the immediate aftermath of the storm. €700,000 was given to the Red Cross for immediate use along the Gulf Coast and €300,000 was given to various community and civil service organisations.”

Further details in relation to the programme for the International Famine Commemoration including the date will be announced over the coming months.

The selection process to determine the site of the 2014 National Famine Commemoration, which is due to be held in Connacht, is currently underway.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Tom Enright

2014-01-04T17:41:00.003-06:00

Thomas W. "Tom" Enright (born 26 July 1940) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician.

Enright was born in Shinrone, County Offaly in 1940. He was educated at the Cistercian College, Roscrea, University College Dublin and the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland. He practised as a solicitor before becoming involved in politics in 1967 as a member of Offaly County Council for the Birr Local electoral area. Enright was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency at the 1969 general election. He was subsequently appointed Fine Gael spokesperson on Tourism (1977–1979) and Consumer Affairs (1979–1981).

Enright lost his Dáil seat at the 1992 general election to Pat Gallagher as part of the swing to the Labour Party in that election. He was then elected to the 20th Seanad, where he served from 1993–97. He regained his Dáil seat at the 1997 general election and retired at the 2002 general election. He was succeeded by his daughter Olwyn Enright.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Bernard Cowen

2014-01-04T17:31:00.000-06:00

Bernard F. "Ber" Cowen (29 January 1932 – 24 January 1984) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who was elected five times to Dáil Éireann.

Born in Clara, County Offaly, Cowen was the son of Christy Cowen, a cattle dealer and Fianna Fáil member who served on Offaly County Council from 1932 until his death in 1967. Cowen was educated at Clara national school and subsequently attended Tullamore CBS. After completion of his secondary schooling he worked as an auctioneer before later becoming a publican.

Cowen first became involved in politics in 1967 when he was co-opted onto Offaly County Council following the death of his father. Later that year he headed the poll in the Tullamore area and retained his seat until his death.

Cowen was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Laois–Offaly at the 1969 general election. Fianna Fáil returned to government for the fourth successive time following a general election, however, as a new TD Cowen remained on the backbenches. He lost his seat at the 1973 general election as a Fine Gael-Labour coalition government was formed. Cowen, however, was subsequently elected to the 13th Seanad by the Agricultural Panel.

Cowen returned to the Dáil following the 1977 general election, when Fianna Fáil returned to power in a landslide. Once again he remained on the backbenches.

In 1979, Jack Lynch resigned as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. Charles Haughey, who was supported by Cowen, won the subsequent leadership election. In spite of offering his support Cowen failed to secure promotion to ministerial office.

A period of political instability followed with three general elections being held throughout 1981 and 1982. Cowen retained his seat in all of these elections. In March 1982 he was finally promoted to junior ministerial level, when he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture with special responsibility for disadvantaged areas. He held that position until December of the same year when Fianna Fáil lost power.

While attending a meeting of Offaly County Council in January 1984 Cowen was taken ill. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin and died several days later on 24 January 1984. He was survived by his wife, Mary, and three sons. The consequent by-election for his seat in the 24th Dáil was won by his second son, Brian Cowen, who went on to serve as Taoiseach from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, Bernard Cowen's youngest son, Barry Cowen, was elected to the seat previously held by his father and brother, having previously been a Fianna Fáil county councillor for Clara.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Ger Connolly

2014-01-04T17:17:00.004-06:00

Gerard C. "Ger" Connolly (born 16 April 1937) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A farmer and auctioneer, Connolly was first elected to the 19th Dáil as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency on his first attempt at the 1969 general election and re-elected until retiring at the 1997 general election.

When Charles Haughey became Taoiseach in 1979, Connolly was appointed Minster of State at the Department of the Environment and was re-appointed to the same position during the Haughey Governments of 1982, 1987, and 1989.

He was not appointed a Minster of State under the succeeding Albert Reynolds government and retired in 1997.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Paddy Power

2014-01-04T17:03:00.003-06:00

Patrick "Paddy" Power (19 November 1928 – 14 August 2013) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.

A national schoolteacher before entering politics, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare constituency at the 1969 general election.

He served as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry from 1979 to June 1981 and Minister for Defence in the government of March to December 1982. He was briefly Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism in October 1982 following the resignation of Desmond O'Malley to challenge for the leadership of the party. He was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1977 to 1979.

Power retired from politics at the 1989 general election. His son, Seán Power is a former TD and Minister of State. Another son, J. J. Power, served as a Green Party councillor on Kildare County Council. He died on 14 August 2013 in Caragh, County Kildare. He had no connection with the Irish bookmakers of the same name.

Erskine Childers - 4th President of Ireland

2013-12-13T20:45:00.002-06:00

Erskine Childers

Erskine Childers, fourth president of Ireland,

was born on this day in 1905.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael Begley

2013-11-16T16:55:00.000-06:00

Michael Begley (22 August 1932 – 26 March 2012) was an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry South constituency between 1969 and 1989. He also served as a Minister of State in a number of government departments.

Born in Dingle, County Kerry in 1932 to a farming family, Begley was a carpenter and secondary school teacher before entering national politics.

Prior to his election as a TD, Begley was elected to Kerry County Council and subsequently served as chairman of the council in 1966–67. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his third attempt at the 1969 general election for Kerry South. Four years later in 1973 Fine Gael came to power in coalition government with the Labour Party and Begley was appointed as Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government. In 1975 Begley became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance following the death of Henry Kenny. He served in that position until 1977.

In 1981 he became a Junior Minister for the Department of Industry and Commerce in the government of Garret FitzGerald. He served in this capacity until 1982 when the government fell.

Begley remained a TD until losing his seat at the 1989 general election to the Labour Party's Michael Moynihan. He then retired from politics.

Michael Begley died aged 79 at his home in Dingle. Tributes were paid among many politicians including Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Gerard Lynch

2013-11-16T16:41:00.001-06:00

Gerard M. Lynch (born 15 June 1931) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. A baker and farmer by profession, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency at the 1969 general election. He was re-elected at the 1973 general election but lost his Dáil seat at the 1977 general election. He was subsequently elected to the 14th Seanad Éireann on the Agricultural Panel. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1981 general election.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Thomas Hussey

2013-11-16T14:21:00.000-06:00

Thomas Hussey (born 25 January 1936) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1981, and then a Senator from 1981 to 1992.

From County Galway, he was a farmer, auctioneer and insurance representative before entering politics, he stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Dáil Éireann at the Galway East by-election in 1964 and in Galway East constituency at the 1965 general election. He won the seat at the 1969 general election, and held it until his defeat at the 1981 general election. He stood gain at the next three general elections, but never returned to the Dáil.

However, after his 1981 defeat, he was elected to the 15th Seanad Éireann on the Agricultural Panel, and held that seat until his defeat in the 1993 Seanad election, when he retired from politics.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Barry Desmond

2013-11-16T14:12:00.002-06:00

Barry Desmond

Barry Desmond (born 15 May 1935) is a former Irish Labour Party politician and government minister.

Desmond was born in Cork in 1935, and was educated at the Presentation Brothers, the School of Commerce and University College Cork. He became a trade union official with the ITGWU (known later as SIPTU) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. His father Cornelius (Con) was Lord Mayor of Cork from 1965–66.

At the 1969 general election he was elected Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown. From 1981–1982 he served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance. In 1982, after Michael O'Leary's resignation as Labour Party leader, Dick Spring was elected as the party's new leader and Desmond was chosen as his deputy.

The Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition was returned to power in the November 1982 general election, and when the 24th Dáil meet in December, Garret FitzGerald was appointed as Taoiseach on the Dáil's nomination. Desmond was appointed Minister for Social Welfare and Minister for Health. He resigned from his ministerial posts on 20 January 1987, along with the other Labour ministers, bringing about the collapse of the government.

At the 1987 general election, Desmond was returned to the 25th Dáil, when Fianna Fáil returned to power. He did not contest the 1989 general election, and on 15 June 1989 he was elected as a Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Dublin. He was a member of the European Court of Auditors from 1994 to 2000.

He was elected president of the Maritime Institute of Ireland on 18 November 2006. He remains a member of the Council of the Maritime Institute of Ireland. As president he oversaw the revision of its articles of association and the securing of €3.2 million funding for the restoration of Mariners' Church, Dún Laoghaire, which houses the National Maritime Museum of Ireland.

France Marks the 95th Anniversary of the End of WWI

2013-11-13T21:01:00.002-06:00

France Marks the 95th Anniversary of the End of WWI

While France marks the 95th anniversary, we marked the 97th anniversary of the Rising this year. Some Irish were fighting this war on the British side. Some Irish were also fighting on the German side, while others were attempting to get guns into the country from the Germans to fight the British at home.

Less than 3 years to the celebration to the 100th Anniversary of the Rising!

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Garret FitzGerald

2013-11-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald Lisbon October 2009

Garret FitzGerald (9 February 1926 – 19 May 2011) was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald was the leader of Fine Gael between 1977 and 1987.

He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first Minister for External Affairs of the Irish Free State following independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. At the time of his death, FitzGerald was the President of the Institute of International and European Affairs, had a column in The Irish Times and made occasional appearances on television programmes.

Garret FitzGerald was born in Dublin in 1926 into a very politically active family. His mother Mabel McConnell had worked for Under-Secretary for Ireland, James Macmahon decoding messages sent from London. Each day between 2:30 and 3:30 she would pass any information acquired to either Joe McGrath, Liam Tobin or Garret's father, Desmond. Desmond FitzGerald was London-born and raised. He was Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth. FitzGerald senior, whose father had emigrated as a labourer from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and fought during the 1916 Easter Rising. Desmond FitzGerald had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence, and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal. The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.

Although a senior figure on the "pro-treaty" side of Ireland's political divide, Desmond FitzGerald had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee, a minister in Éamon de Valera's government, and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien. The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother, the former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent, although some sources indicate that she became a Catholic on her marriage. Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home.

FitzGerald was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946, later returning to complete a PhD which he obtained in 1968. He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD his future political rival, Charles Haughey, who also knew Joan O'Farrell (the Liverpool-born daughter of a British army officer, Richard O'Farrell) a fellow student, whom FitzGerald married in 1947. Their children were John, Mary, Mark and Desmond.

Following his university education, in 1947 he started working with Aer Lingus, the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for the Economist Magazine, and was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the Features Editor in The Irish Times. He remained in Aer Lingus until 1959, when after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish Industry in Trinity College, Dublin, he became a lecturer in economics at UCD.^{[citation needed]}

Fitzgerald qualified as a barrister from the King's Inns of Ireland and spoke French fluently.

Garret FitzGerald was eager to enter politics, and it was suggested by several members of Fianna Fáil, including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats, that he should join that party. Ultimately FitzGerald made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael. He attached himself to the liberal wing of Fine Gael, which rallied around the Just Society programme written by Declan Costello. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election, for the Dublin South–East constituency, the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in the parliamentary party and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave.

Difference in political outlook, and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael ard fheis in Cork, Cosgrave referred to the 'mongrel foxes' who should be rooted out of the party, a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader.

After the 1973 general election Fine Gael came to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach. FitzGerald hoped that he would take over as Minister for Finance, particularly after a good performance in a pre-election debate with the actual Minister for Finance, George Colley. However the position went to Richie Ryan, with FitzGerald becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was a case of history repeating itself as FitzGerald's father had held that post in a government led by Liam Cosgrave's father W. T. Cosgrave fifty years earlier. His appointment to Iveagh House (the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs) would have a huge effect on FitzGerald's own career and the future of Fine Gael. Cosgrave was suspicious of FitzGerald's liberal ideas and believed that he had designs on the leadership. During his period in foreign affairs, Fitzgerald, developed a good relationship with Liam Cosgrave and all the tension that had existed between them in opposition disappeared.

The minister's role had changed substantially since his father's day. Ireland was no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations but had in 1973 joined the European Economic Community (EEC), now known as the European Union (EU). FitzGerald, firmly ensconced as Foreign Minister, was free from any blame due to other Ministers mishandling of the economy. If anything his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs helped him to achieve the leadership of the party. His innovative views, energy and fluency in French won him – and through him, Ireland – a status in European affairs far exceeding the country's size and ensured that the first Irish Presidency of the European Council in 1975 was a noted success.

FitzGerald's policy towards Northern Ireland, however, brought him into confrontation with the Roman Catholic church, whose "special position" in the Republic had until the Referendum of December 1972 been enshrined in the Constitution. FitzGerald in 1973 met Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli and proposed to further modify the Republic's Constitution to remove laws with overtly Catholic foundations, such as the bans on divorce and contraception, as well as to relax the public stigmas in Northern Ireland towards mixed religious marriages and integrated education. Casaroli at first seemed receptive, and the Government formally submitted the proposal to the Vatican. FitzGerald's vision caused great consternation among the church's hierarchy, however, and in 1977 Pope Paul VI personally met with FitzGerald to tell him that "Ireland was a catholic country – perhaps the only one left – and it should stay that way. Laws should not be changed in any way that would make the country less catholic."

In 1977 the National Coalition of Fine Gael and Labour suffered a disastrous electoral defeat in the general election. Liam Cosgrave resigned as party leader and FitzGerald was chosen by acclamation to succeed him.^[13] In his new role as Leader of the Opposition and party leader he set about modernising and revitalising Fine Gael. He immediately appointed a General-Secretary to oversee all of this, a tactic copied from Fianna Fáil. Under FitzGerald, Fine Gael experienced a rapid rise in support and popularity. By the November 1982 election, it held only five seats fewer than Fianna Fáil (their closest ever margin until 2011; at times Fianna Fáil was nearly twice as large), with Fine Gael in the Oireachtas bigger than Fianna Fáil, who had been a dominant force in Irish politics for 40 years.

By the time of the 1981 general election Fine Gael had a party machine that could easily match Fianna Fáil's. The party won 65 seats and formed a minority coalition government with the Labour Party and the support of a number of Independent TDs. FitzGerald was elected Taoiseach on 30 June 1981. To the surprise of many Fitzgerald excluded Richie Ryan, Richard Burke and Tom O'Donnell, former Fine Gael stalwarts, from the cabinet.

Two fundamental problems faced FitzGerald during his first period: Northern Ireland and the worsening economic situation. A protest march in support of the H-Block hunger strikers in July 1981 was dealt with by FitzGerald harshly. On one occasion where he met with relatives of the hunger strike, he refused to meet the family of Bobby Sands, a MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and O/C of the Provisional IRA hunger strikers, and the first to die on this strike, along with the sister of Raymond McCreesh, who had died on 21 May. During the meeting two of Thomas McElwee's sisters, Mary and Nora, broke down and left the meeting. Mary McElwee stated to the media outside that "He's doing nothing, he's asking for suggestions". Fitzgerald then ordered Gardai to remove the families from the meeting. Fitzgerald's response was, in the words of Eamonn Sweeney, to "lay all the blame for the hunger strikers on the Republican movement and to suggest an immediate unilateral end to their military campaign".

The economic crisis was also a lot worse than FitzGerald had feared. Fine Gael had to jettison its plans for tax-cuts in the run-up to the election and a draconian mid-year budget was introduced almost immediately. The July Budget seemed exceptionally austere for a government dependent on Independent TDs support. However, the second budget introduced by John Bruton led to the Government's shock defeat in Dáil Éireann on the evening of 27 January 1982.

Viewing his defeat as a loss of support FitzGerald headed to Áras an Uachtaráin to request an immediate Dáil dissolution from the President, Patrick Hillery. When he got there, he was informed that a series of telephone calls had been made by senior opposition figures (and some independent TDs), including Fianna Fáil leader (and ex-Taoiseach) Charles Haughey, Brian Lenihan and Sylvester Barrett demanding that the President, as he could constitutionally do where a Taoiseach had 'ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann', refuse FitzGerald a parliamentary dissolution, forcing his resignation as Taoiseach and enabling the Dáil to nominate someone else for the post. The President is said to have angrily rejected such pressure, regarding it as gross misconduct, and granted the dissolution.

In the subsequent general election in February 1982, Fine Gael lost only two seats and were out of power. However, a third general election within eighteen months in November 1982 resulted in FitzGerald being returned as Taoiseach for a second time, heading a Fine Gael-Labour coalition with a working majority.

Deep economic recession dominated FitzGerald's second term as well as his first. The pursuit of 'fiscal rectitude' to reduce a high national debt required a firmer control of public spending than Labour found easy to accept. The harmonious relationship the Taoiseach developed with Tánaiste Dick Spring successfully avoided a collapse of the coalition for more than four years, despite tensions between other ministers, and enabled the Government to survive. Fine Gael wanted to revive the economy by controlling public spending and imposing cutbacks to reduce the public budget deficit.

The measures proposed by FitzGerald's Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes, were completely unacceptable to the Labour Party which was under enormous pressure from its support base to maintain public services. The two parties in Government found themselves in a stalemate position. They stopped the financial crisis from worsening but could not take the decisive action that would generate economic growth. With negligible economic growth and large scale unemployment, the FitzGerald Government was deeply unpopular with the public. The Fianna Fáil opposition added to the woes of the Government by taking a decidedly opportunistic and populist line in opposing every suggested reform and cutback.

As Taoiseach for a second time FitzGerald advocated a liberalisation of Irish society, to create what he called the non-sectarian nation of "Tone and Davis". His attempt to introduce divorce was defeated in a referendum, although he did liberalise Ireland's contraception laws. A controversial 'Pro-Life Amendment' (anti-abortion clause), which was stated to recognise the 'Right to Life of the Unborn, with due regard to the Equal Right to Life of the Mother' was added to the Irish constitution, against FitzGerald's advice, in a national referendum.

FitzGerald set up The New Ireland Forum in 1983, which brought together representatives of the constitutional political parties in the Republic and the nationalist SDLP from Northern Ireland. Although the Unionist parties spurned his invitation to join, and the Forum's conclusions proposing various forms of association between Northern Ireland and the Republic were rejected outright by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Forum provided the impetus for the resumption of serious negotiations between the Irish and British governments, which culminated in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of November 1985. This agreement provided for a mechanism by which the Republic of Ireland could be consulted by the British Government under Margaret Thatcher regarding the governance of Northern Ireland, and was bitterly opposed by Unionists in Northern Ireland, whose MPs all resigned their seats in the British Parliament in protest. New elections were required to be held in Northern Ireland, in which the unionists lost the seat of (Newry and Armagh) to Seamus Mallon of the SDLP. During this period, on 15 March 1984, he was also invited to address a joint session of the US Congress, the fourth Irish leader to do so.

His government had also passed the Extradition Act of 1987, which ended the long-standing defence against extradition of suspects who could plead that an act of violence in Northern Ireland or Britain was a political offence.

While the Agreement was repudiated and condemned by Unionists, it was said to become the basis for developing trust and common action between the governments, which in time would ultimately bring about the Downing Street Declaration of 1993, and the subsequent republican and loyalist cease-fires.

In 1986, FitzGerald attempted to reshuffle his cabinet but certain ministers, including notably Barry Desmond refused to move from his Health and Social Welfare portfolio. The eventual outcome of the cabinet changes further undermined FitzGerald's authority. The new Progressive Democrats party was launched at the same time by Desmond O'Malley out of the divisions within Fianna Fáil. Ironically, it struck an immediate chord with many disenchanted Fine Gael supporters who had tired of the failure to fully address the economic crisis and who yearned for a coherent rightwing policy from FitzGerald. Seeing its support base under attack from the right only strengthened the resolve of FitzGerald's Fine Gael colleagues to break with the Labour Party approach, despite their leader's close empathy with that party.

Stymied by economic crisis, FitzGerald tried to rescue some of his ambitions to reform the State and he proposed, in the summer of 1986, a referendum to change the Constitution to allow for divorce. The proposed amendment was mired in controversy and the many accompanying legal changes needed were not clearly presented. Haughey skilfully opposed the referendum along with the Roman Catholic Church and landed interests worried about property rights. The defeat of the referendum sealed the fate of the Government.

In January 1987, the Labour Party members of the government withdrew from the government over disagreements due to budget proposals. FitzGerald continued as Taoiseach heading a minority Fine Gael government and proposed the stringent budgetary cutbacks that Labour had blocked for some four years. Fianna Fáil returned to power in March 1987, after Fine Gael were heavily defeated in the 1987 general election. The Progressive Democrats won some 14 seats mainly from Fine Gael. Although Haughey did not have an overall majority when it came to a vote the Independent Socialist TD Tony Gregory voted against Fitzgerald but abstained on Haughey, seeing Haughey as the "lesser of two evils" . The reason for this was Gregory's opposition to the Anglo-Irish agreement along with his strong personal dislike for Fitzgerald. Haughey was elected Taoiseach on the casting vote of the Ceann Comhairle.

FitzGerald retired as leader of Fine Gael immediately after the election by the Dáil of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach, to be replaced by Alan Dukes. His autobiography All in a Life appeared in 1991, immediately becoming a best-seller. He retired completely from politics at the 1992 general election. His wife, Joan, predeceased him, dying in 1999 after a long illness.

After that FitzGerald wrote a weekly column every Saturday in The Irish Times, and lectured widely at home and abroad on public affairs.

In a leading article on his death the Irish Times said that

He was an extraordinary Irishman who fashioned our future in so many ways.

and that he was the papers longest-serving contributor and columnist, for over 57 years. He came out of retirement to campaign for a "yes" vote in the second Irish referendum on the EU's Treaty of Nice, held in 2002. He held the post of Chancellor of the National University of Ireland from 1997 to 2009. In March 2000, Fitzgerald was on the board of directors of Election.com, when it conducted the world's first public election ever held over the Internet, which was the Arizona Democratic Primary, which was won by Al Gore; in that primary, voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.

FitzGerald took a leading part in the campaign for the second referendum on the EU's Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. He argued for Ireland to continue with European integration. FitzGerald has been scathing of the record of the Fianna Fáil led Government since 1997 on the economy and the national finances. He was a frequent, critic in his column in The Irish Times, of the loss of competitiveness that occurred and the inflation caused by the tax cuts and excessive public spending increases of the Celtic Tiger era. In 2009, FitzGerald received a new ministerial car, the first and only one to be purchased by the state since an economic recession hit the country in 2008. In 2010, FitzGerald appeared on RTÉ's "Top 40 Irishmen" list.

He was Vice-President of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland for his last 20 years.

In early 1999 it was revealed that some six years earlier, AIB and Ansbacher Banks wrote off debts of almost IR£200,000 owed by FitzGerald following the collapse of the aircraft leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation, in which he was a shareholder. Chairman of AIB at the time, Peter Sutherland, was also a former director of GPA and had served as Attorney General under FitzGerald, prior to FitzGerald appointing him as Ireland's member of the European Commission. The Moriarty Tribunal investigated this matter, and compared the treatment by AIB of FitzGerald with their treatment of Charles Haughey. They found no evidence of any wrongdoing, indeed the Tribunal heard evidence as to the considerable hardship that FitzGerald went to – to the extent of selling of his family home – to repay the debt to the best of his ability.
The Tribunal concluded in their report:

In summary it would appear that in compromising his indebtedness with the Bank, Dr. Fitzgerald disposed of his only substantial asset, namely, his family home at Palmerston Road, a property which would now be worth a considerable sum of money. As in Mr. Haughey's case, there was a substantial discounting or forbearance shown in Dr. Fitzgerald's case. However in contrast with Mr. Haughey's case, Dr. Fitzgerald's case involved the effective exhaustion of his assets in order to achieve a settlement whereas Mr. Haughey's assets were retained virtually intact.

On 5 May 2011, it was reported that FitzGerald was seriously ill in a Dublin hospital. The Taoiseach Enda Kenny sent his regards and called him an "institution". He was put on a ventilator. On 19 May, he died, aged 85, in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin.

President Mary McAleese described him as a man steeped in the history of the State who constantly strove to make Ireland a better place for all its people.

His thoughtful writing, distinctive voice and probing intellect all combined to make him one of our national treasures. Above all, Garret Fitzgerald was a true public servant... Long after he departed active politics, Garret continued to contribute to public life through his voluminous writing and scholarship. His weekly columns in The Irish Times were essential reading for those who sought enlightenment on the issues and debates of the day.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Dr FitzGerald was;

a truly remarkable man who made a truly remarkable contribution to Ireland

and that;

his towering intellect and enthusiasm for life will be missed by everybody. He had an eternal optimism for what could be achieved in politics. You could not tire him out and his belief that politics and democracy would work for peace.

Former Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader John Bruton said FitzGerald would;

stand out as a man who changed Ireland and that he had changed attitudes to in the Republic to Northern Ireland and to Europe and that he saw that Ireland could do best in Europe if it contributed creatively to goals and ambitions of other members.

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger described FitzGerald as an intelligent and amusing man who was dedicated to his country.

His death occurred during the third day of the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland, an event designed to mark the completion of the peace process that, FitzGerald began with the Anglo-Irish Agreement. In response to his death, the Queen said of FitzGerald,

I was saddened to hear this morning's news of the death of Garret FitzGerald, a true statesman. He made a lasting contribution to peace and will be greatly missed.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who was also in Ireland, said of him:

I watched him as a student of politics, rather than someone involved in politics, and he always struck me as someone who was a statesman as well as a politician, someone who was in politics for all the right reasons, and someone who made a huge contribution to the peace process bringing reconciliation for all that had happened in the past. And I think that today of all days with the state visit and the warm relationship between Britain and Ireland that he can see that some of his work being completed.

On his visit to Dublin, US President Barack Obama offered condolences on the former Taoiseach's death, describing Dr FitzGerald as;

someone who believed in the power of education, someone who believe in the potential of youth, someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realised

There has been a call for Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 to be renamed the Garret FitzGerald Terminal after the former Taoiseach in light of his early career and lifelong interest in aviation.

In February 2012, Young Fine Gael announced that its annual Summer School would be renamed the Garret FitzGerald YFG Summer School.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Jim Tunney

2013-11-02T15:08:00.001-05:00

Jim Tunney (25 December 1923 – 16 January 2002) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.

Tunney was born in Dublin in 1923. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North–West constituency at the 1969 general election. He served continuously in the Dáil until losing his seat at the 1992 general election, having been a TD for Dublin Finglas from 1977 to 1981 when Dublin constituencies were reconfigured as 3-seaters, before being returned for Dublin North–West in 1981. During that period he served as Parliamentary Secretary and Minister of State in three governments. He served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann. He was also Chairman of Fianna Fáil for ten years and served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1984 to 1985.

He also played for the Dublin Senior football team. He was on the winning side for Dublin in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship in 1948.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - David Thornley

2013-11-02T14:59:00.001-05:00

David A. Thornley

David Thornley (31 July 1935 – 18 June 1978) was an Irish Labour Party politician and university professor at Trinity College, Dublin.

Born in Surrey, England, David Thornley took out Irish citizenship and was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North–West constituency at the 1969 general election. He confronted the party leader Brendan Corish, who at the time of the Arms Crisis reportedly rejected out of hand any suggestion of military aid or use of force after the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland.

In December 1972 he called for the immediate release of Seán Mac Stíofáin, then leader of the Provisional IRA. He was re-elected at the 1973 general election. In 1976 he voted for the Criminal Justice (Jurisdiction) Bill despite misgivings. He told The Irish Times:

"When I get very depressed I drink too much. When I voted for the Criminal Justice (Jurisdiction Bill) I went on the batter for a forthnight [sic]."

He lost his seat at the 1977 general election. In 1978, he joined the newly formed Socialist Labour Party stating that he had done so because: "There is no man in politics that I respect more than Noël Browne, despite our occasional differences. If the SLP is good for him, it's good enough for me".

Thornley died later that year (1978) in County Dublin, aged 42, from undisclosed causes.

The Trinity College Labour Branch is also known as the David Thornley Branch.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Hugh Byrne

2013-11-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

Hugh Byrne (born 5 July 1939) is a former Fine Gael politician from Dublin, Ireland. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for 13 years.

He was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the 1969 general election, when he won a seat in the 19th Dáil as a TD for the Dublin North–West constituency. He held his seat at the 1973 general election, and after boundary changes for the 1977 general election he was re-elected for the new Dublin Cabra seat. When that constituency was abolished for the 1981 general election, he was returned for a new Dublin North–West constituency.

After Garret FitzGerald's Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government fell in January 1982, Byrne lost his seat at the resulting February 1982 general election, to Proinsias De Rossa of Sinn Féin the Workers Party. After failing to regain his seat at the November 1982 general election, he did not stand again.

Top ten Irish phrases and and what they really mean

2013-10-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

In an article entitled "Top ten Irish phrases and and what they really mean (From "Erin go bragh" to "Cead Mile Failte", an insight into Irish sayings)" By
NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral Founder

Here are the top ten Irish sayings and what they mean:

May the road rise to meet you -

From the Gaelic, "Go N-eiri an bothar leat", which means may success be with you.

Top of the morning -

Hollywood invention, never used in Ireland.

And the rest of the day to yourself -
Also Hollywood.

Slainte -

Meaning good health. Slainte is the Gaelic word for health.

Slan -

Meaning farewell. Slan is the Gaelic word for safe so it means keep safe.

Erin go Bragh -

Meaning "Ireland forever" in Gaelic.

A hundred thousand welcomes -

From the Gaelic “Cead Mile Failte” which means literally that.

Dia is Muire Dhuit -

Meaning hello in Gaelic. The phrase literally means "God and Mary with you."

Dia is Mhuire Duit agus Padraig -

How the person responds,"God and Mary and St. Patrick with you."

Pog Mo Thoin -

Yes it means what you think it does, Gaelic for kiss my a**.

*Originally published in March 2010.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien

2013-10-12T16:05:00.003-05:00

Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien

Conor Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008) often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish politician, writer, historian and academic. His opinion on the role of Britain in Ireland and in Northern Ireland changed during the 1970s in response to the outbreak of 'the Troubles' after 1968. He saw opposing nationalist and unionist traditions as irreconcilable and switched from a nationalist to a unionist view of Irish politics and history. O'Brien's outlook was always radical and the positions he took were seldom orthodox. He summarised his position as, "I intend to administer an electric shock to the Irish psyche". Internationally, he opposed in person the African National Congress's academic boycott of the apartheid regime in South Africa and in later years also supported the state of Israel. These views contrasted with those espoused during the 1950s and 1960s.

During his career as a civil servant, O'Brien worked on the government's anti-partition campaign. At the 1969 general election, he was elected to Ireland's parliament as a Labour Party TD for Dublin North–East becoming a Minister from 1973–77. He was also the Labour Party's Northern Ireland spokesman during those years. He was later known primarily as an author and as a columnist for the Irish Independent.

Cruise O'Brien was born in Dublin to Francis ("Frank") Cruise O'Brien and Kathleen Sheehy. Frank was a journalist with the Freeman's Journal and Irish Independent newspapers, and had edited an essay written fifty years earlier by William Lecky, on the influence of the clergy on Irish politics.

Kathleen was an Irish language teacher. She was the daughter of David Sheehy, a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party and organiser of the Irish National Land League. She had two sisters, both of whom lost their husbands in 1916. Hanna's husband, the well known pacifist and supporter of women's suffrage Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, was executed by firing squad on the orders of Captain J.C Bowen Colthurst during the 1916 Easter Rising. Soon afterwards Mary's husband, Thomas Kettle, an officer of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers was killed during the Battle of the Somme. These three women, Hanna and his mother in particular, were a major influence on O'Brien's upbringing alongside Hanna's son, his cousin Owen Sheehy-Skeffington.

O'Brien's father (who died in 1927) wanted Conor educated non-denominationally, a wish that Kathleen honoured. O'Brien followed his cousin Owen into Sandford Park School that had a predominantly Protestant ethos, despite objections from Catholic clergy. O'Brien subsequently attended Trinity College Dublin which played the British national anthem until 1939, though O'Brien and Sheehy-Skeffington sat in protest on such occasions. O'Brien was editor of Trinity's weekly, TCD: A College Miscellany. His first wife, Christine Foster, came from a Belfast Presbyterian family and was, like her father, a member of the Gaelic League. Her parents, Alexander (Alec) Roulston Foster and Mary Lynd, were Irish republicans and supporters of Irish reunification. Alec Foster was headmaster at the time of Belfast Royal Academy and was later a founding member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and also a strong supporter of the Irish Anti-Apartheid movement.

He was a former Ulster, Ireland and British & Irish Lions rugby player, having captained Ireland three times between 1912–1914. O'Brien and Christine Foster were married in a registry office in 1939. The couple had three children – Donal, Fedelma, and Kathleen (Kate), who died in 1998. The marriage ended in divorce after 20 years. In 1962, O'Brien married the Irish-language writer and poet Máire Mhac an tSaoi in a Roman Catholic church. O'Brien's divorce, contrary to Roman Catholic teaching, was not an issue since that church did not recognise the validity of O'Brien's 1939 civil wedding in the first place. O'Brien referred to this action, which in effect formally de-recognised the legitimacy of his former wife and children, as "hypocritical ... and otherwise distasteful, but I took it, as preferable to the alternatives." Mac an tSaoi was five years his junior, and the daughter of Seán MacEntee, who was Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) at the time. They subsequently adopted two Congolese children, a son (Patrick) and a daughter (Margaret).

O'Brien's university education led to a career in the public service, most notably in the Department of External (now Foreign) Affairs. He achieved distinction as managing director of the state run Irish News Agency and later as part of the fledgling Irish delegation to the United Nations. O'Brien later claimed he was something of an anomalous iconoclast in post-1922 Irish politics, particularly in the context of Fianna Fáil governments under Éamon de Valera. He considered that those who did not conform to traditional Roman Catholic mores were generally ill-suited to the public service, though that does not appear to have impeded his ascent through it. In the Department of External Affairs during the 1949–52 inter-party government, O'Brien served under former IRA Chief of Staff republican, Seán MacBride, the 1974 Nobel Peace Laureate, son of John MacBride and Maud Gonne. O'Brien was particularly vocal in opposition to partition during the 1940s and 1950s, as part of his official duties.

In 1961, O'Brien came to world prominence after secondment from Ireland's UN delegation as a special representative to Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations in the Katanga region of the newly independent Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). O'Brien attempted to prevent the mineral rich region from seceding by expelling French and other western backed mercenaries. After initiating military action and under pressure from western powers attempting to provoke secession, in particular Britain and white ruled Rhodesia, O'Brien stepped down from his UN position and also simultaneously from the Irish diplomatic service in late 1961.

He wrote immediately about his experiences in The Observer (London) and in the New York Times, and later in To Katanga and Back (1962), considered a classic of both modern African history and of the inner workings of the United Nations. In 1962, in response to an invitation from the Chancellor of the University of Ghana, and the country's leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, O'Brien accepted a position as Vice-Chancellor of the University. However, his interpretation of academic freedom later differed from that of Dr. Nkrumah, and he subsequently resigned in 1965. Following this he was the first Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities at New York University from 1965 to 1969. During the 1960s O'Brien opposed western, in particular US, imperialism and protested against US participation in the Vietnam War. O'Brien supported the right of oppressed people to use violence. In a debate involving Noam Chomsky, Hannah Arendt, Susan Sontag and others in 1967, he asserted,

“

The question has also been raised here about the terror used by the National Liberation Front [in Vietnam], and by other revolutionary movements. I think there is a distinction between the use of terror by oppressed peoples against the oppressors and their servants, in comparison with the use of terror by their oppressors in the interests of further oppression. I think there is a qualitative distinction there which we have the right to make. ”

O'Brien returned to Ireland and in the 1969 general election was elected to Dáil Éireann as a member of the opposition Labour Party, representing the Dublin North–East constituency, together with three other TDs, including Charles Haughey, whose probity in financial matters he questioned. He was appointed a member of the short-lived first delegation from the Oireachtas to the European Parliament. Following the 1973 general election, O'Brien was appointed Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in the 1973–77 Labour Fine Gael coalition under Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.

During this period, after the outbreak of armed conflict in Northern Ireland in 1969, O'Brien developed a deep hostility to militant Irish republicanism and to Irish nationalists generally in Northern Ireland, reversing views articulated at the outset of unrest. He extended and vigorously enforced censorship of Radio Teilefís Éireann (RTÉ) under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act. In 1976 he specifically banned spokespersons for Sinn Féin and the Provisional Irish Republican Army from RTÉ. At the same time, he attempted unsuccessfully to get Britain's BBC 1 television channel broadcast on Ireland's proposed second television channel, instead of allowing RTÉ to run it.

Two additional notable incidents affected O'Brien's career as minister, besides support for broadcasting censorship.

In August 1976, Bernard Nossiter of the Washington Post interviewed O'Brien regarding the passage of an Emergency Powers Bill. During the course of the interview O'Brien revealed an intention to extend censorship beyond broadcasting. He wished to "cleanse the culture" of republicanism and would like the bill to be used against teachers who allegedly glorified Irish revolutionaries. He also wanted it used against newspaper editors who published pro-republican or anti-British readers' letters.

O'Brien mentioned the Irish Press as a newspaper which in particular he hoped to use the legislation against and produced a file of Irish Press letters to the editor to which he took exception. Nossiter immediately informed Irish Press editor Tim Pat Coogan of O'Brien's intentions. Coogan printed Nossiter's report (as did the Irish TImes), republished the letters to which O'Brien objected, and ran a number of strong editorials attacking O'Brien and the proposed legislation. The interview caused huge controversy, resulting in modification of the measure appearing to target newspapers.

O'Brien also supported Garda brutality in this 1973–77 period, though this was not revealed by O'Brien until 1998 in his Memoir. In Memoir: My Life and Themes, O'Brien recalled a conversation with a detective who told him how the Gardaí had found out – from a suspect – the location of businessman Tiede Herrema, who had been kidnapped by group of maverick republicans in October 1975: "[T]he escort started asking him questions and when at first he refused to answer, they beat the shit out of him. Then he told them where Herrema was." O'Brien explained, "I refrained from telling this story to [ministerial colleagues] Garret [FitzGerald] or Justin [Keating], because I thought it would worry them. It didn't worry me." Elements of the Garda Síochána that engaged in beating false confessions out of suspects quickly became known as the "Heavy Gang".

O'Brien's Dublin North–East constituency was abolished as part of a government inspired redrawing of boundaries. In the 1977 general election he stood in Dublin Clontarf and was one of three ministers defeated in a general rout of the outgoing administration. He was, however, subsequently elected to Seanad Éireann in 1977 from the Trinity College Dublin constituency, though he resigned his seat in 1979 due to new commitments as editor-in-chief of the London Observer newspaper.

Between 1978 and 1981 O'Brien was editor-in-chief of The Observer newspaper in Britain. In 1979 he controversially pulped an Observer magazine with an article by Mary Holland, The Observer's Ireland correspondent. Holland, whose reporting won her a Journalist of the Year award, had been one of the first journalists to explain discrimination in Northern Ireland to a British audience. The article was a profile of Mary Nellis of Derry and dealt with her radicalisation as a result of the conflict. O'Brien objected and sent Holland a memo stating that the "killing strain" of Irish republicanism, "has a very high propensity to run in families and the mother is most often the carrier". He continued,

“

It is a very serious weakness of your coverage of Irish affairs that you are a very poor judge of Irish Catholics. That gifted and talkative community includes some of the most expert conmen and conwomen in the world and I believe you have been conned.

”

Holland was forced out of the newspaper by O'Brien. She later joined the Irish Times as a columnist. She also rejoined The Observer after O'Brien's departure in 1981.

In 1985, O'Brien supported unionist objections to the inter governmental Anglo-Irish Agreement. In 1996 he joined Robert McCartney's United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP) and was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum. In 1997, a successful libel action was brought against him by relatives of Bloody Sunday victims for alleging in a Sunday Independent article in 1997 that the marchers were "Sinn Féin activists operating for the IRA". O'Brien opposed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and opposed allowing Sinn Féin into government in Northern Ireland. He later resigned from the UKUP after his book Memoir: My Life and Themes called on Unionists to consider the benefits of a united Ireland to thwart Sinn Féin. In 2005 he rejoined the Labour Party. O'Brien defended his harsh attitudes and actions towards Irish republicans with,

“	"We do right to condemn all violence but we have a special duty to condemn the violence which is committed in our name". ”

Conor Cruise O'Brien's many books include: States of Ireland (1972), where he first indicated his revised view of Irish nationalism, The Great Melody (1992), his unorthodox biography of Edmund Burke, and his autobiography Memoir: My Life and Themes (1999). He also published a collection of essays, Passion and Cunning (1988), which includes a substantial piece on the literary work of William Butler Yeats and some challenging views on the subject of terrorism, and The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism (1986), a history of Zionism and the State of Israel. His books, particularly those on Irish issues, tend to be personalised, for example States of Ireland, where he made the link between the political success of the republican Easter Rising and the consequent demise of his Home Rule family's position in society. His private papers have been deposited in the University College Dublin Archives.

In 1963, O'Brien's script for a Telefís Éireann programme on Charles Stewart Parnell won him a Jacob's Award.

He was a longtime columnist for the Irish Independent. His articles were distinguished by hostility to the 'peace process' in Northern Ireland, regular predictions of civil war involving the Republic of Ireland, and a pro-Unionist stance.

O'Brien held visiting professorships and lectureships throughout the world, particularly in the United States, and controversially in apartheid South Africa, openly breaking the academic boycott. A persistent critic of Charles Haughey, O'Brien coined the acronym GUBU (Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented), based on a statement by Charles Haughey, who was then Taoiseach, commenting on the discovery of a murder suspect, Malcolm MacArthur, in the apartment of the Fianna Fáil Attorney General Patrick Connolly. Until 1994, O'Brien was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dublin.

The works of Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien include:

Maria Cross: Imaginative Patterns in a Group of Modern Catholic Writers (as Donat O'Donnell) (London: Chatto & Windus, 1952) OCLC 7884093

Parnell and His Party 1880–90 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957) ISBN 978-0-19-821237-9 (1968 edition)

To Katanga and Back: A UN Case History (London: Hutchinson, 1962) OCLC 460615937

Writers and Politics: Essays & Criticism (London: Chatto & Windus, 1965) ISBN 978-0-14-002733-4 (1976 Penguin edition)

Murderous Angels: A Political Tragedy and Comedy in Black and White (play) (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968) OCLC 449739

The United Nations: Sacred Drama with illustrations by Feliks Topolski (London: Hutchinson, 1968) ISBN 978-0-09-085790-6

Camus (Fontana Modern Masters, 1970) ISBN 978-0-00-211147-8 – released in US as Albert Camus of Europe and Africa (New York: Viking, 1970) ISBN 978-0-670-01902-1

States of Ireland (London: Hutchinson, 1972) ISBN 978-0-09-113100-5

The Suspecting Glance (London: Faber, 1972) ISBN 978-0-571-09543-8

Herod: Reflections on Political Violence (Hutchinson, 1978) ISBN 978-0-09-133190-0

The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism (1986) ISBN 978-0-671-63310-3

God Land : Reflections on Religion and Nationalism (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988) ISBN 978-0-674-35510-1

Passion and Cunning and Other Essays (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988) ISBN 978-0-297-79325-0

The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) ISBN 978-0-226-61651-3

On the Eve of the Millennium (Toronto: House of Anansi, 1994). ISBN 978-0-88784-559-8

The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785–1800 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996) ISBN 978-0-226-61656-8

Ancestral Voices: Religion and Nationalism in Ireland (Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 1994) ISBN 978-1-85371-429-0

Memoir: My Life and Themes (Dublin: Poolbeg, 1999) ISBN 978-1-85371-947-9

Máire and Conor Cruise O'Brien:

A Concise History of Ireland (London: Thames and Hudson, 1972) ISBN 978-0-500-45011-6 – released in US as The Story of Ireland (New York: Viking, 1972) ISBN 978-0-670-67475-6

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Richard Burke

2013-10-12T15:28:00.002-05:00

Richard "Dick" Burke (born 29 March 1932) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician and European Commissioner.

Burke was born in New York in the United States in 1932. He was raised in Tipperary and educated at the Christian Brothers School, Thurles, University College Dublin (UCD) and King's Inns. He worked as a teacher before embarking on a political career. His first political involvement was with the Christian Democrat Party founded by Seán Loftus. However, he soon became a member of Fine Gael, becoming a member of Dublin County Council in 1967. Two years later in 1969 he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time, becoming a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County South. He was immediately appointed Chief Whip by party leader Liam Cosgrave.

In 1973, a new Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government was formed and Burke was appointed Minister for Education. During that period in power he joined the Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, in voting against the government's own Contraceptives Bill. In 1976 he won an internal cabinet battle with Justin Keating for the nomination as Ireland’s European Commissioner. In that position he succeeded Patrick Hillery who returned to become President of Ireland.

Burke did not contest the 1977 general election but on the completion of his four-year term as Commissioner, Burke accepted an invitation to stand at the 1981 general election for Fine Gael on returning to Ireland from Harvard University after his fellowship year at Leverett House from 1980-1981. He was elected for Dublin West.

However, Burke was not appointed to the short lived cabinet. He retained his seat at the general election which followed in February 1982, but Fine Gael was out of office. The governments' short-lived cabinet, in the absence of suitable and available members of their own party, nominated Burke for acceptance by the Council of Ministers as commissioner for the second time where his seniority resulted in his nomination as Vice-President of the Commission. Burke became President and chief executive officer of the Stichting Cannon Foundation in Europe until his retirement in 1998.

Burke is married to Mary and has 6 children.

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Justin Keating

2013-10-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

Justin Keating

Justin Keating (7 January 1930 – 31 December 2009) was an Irish Labour Party politician, broadcaster, journalist, lecturer and veterinary surgeon. In later life he was President of the Humanist Association of Ireland.

Keating served in Liam Cosgrave's cabinet as Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1973 to 1977. He also spent time in Seanad Éireann and was a Member of the European Parliament. He was considered part of a "new wave" of politicians at the time of his election.

He was born in Dublin in 1930, a son of the noted painter Seán Keating. Keating was educated at Sandford Park School, and then at University College Dublin (UCD) and the University of London. He became a lecturer in anatomy at the UCD veterinary college from 1955 until 1960 and was senior lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin from 1960 until 1965. He was RTÉ's head of agricultural programmes for two years before returning to Trinity College in 1967. While at RTÉ, he scripted and presented Telefís Feirme, a series for the agricultural community, for which he won a Jacob's Award in 1966.

Keating was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin County North constituency at the 1969 general election. From 1973 to 1977 he served in the National Coalition government under Liam Cosgrave as Minister for Industry and Commerce. In 1973 he was appointed a Member of the European Parliament from the Oireachtas, serving on the short-lived first delegation.

During 1975, Keating introduced the first substantial legislation for the development of Ireland's oil and gas. The legislation was modelled on international best practise, ensuring the Irish people would gain substantial benefit from their own oil and gas. Under Keating's legislation the state could acquire a 50% stake, by right, in any viable oil and gas reserves discovered. Production royalties of between 8% and 16% with corporation tax of 50% would accrue to the state. The legislation specified energy companies would begin drilling within three years of the date of the issue of an exploration license.
He lost his Dáil seat at the 1977 general election, but was subsequently elected to Seanad Éireann on the Agricultural Panel, serving there until 1981. He briefly served again in the European Parliament from February to June 1984 when he replaced Séamus Pattison.

In the aftermath of President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "World Without Zionism" speech in 2005, Keating published an Op-ed in The Dubliner Magazine, expressing his views on Israel. The article starts by claiming that "the Zionists have absolutely no right in what they call Israel". Keating then proceeds to explain why he thinks Israel has no right to exist, claiming that the Ashkenazi Jews are descended from Khazars.

Keating died on 31 December 2009, one week before his eightieth birthday. Tributes came from the leaders of the Labour Party and Fine Gael at the time of his death, Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny, as well as former Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach John Bruton.

The Irish Rising

1916 Easter Rising made Irish violent, says former Irish leader

Tribute to James Connolly

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - John Bruton

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Martin Finn

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael J. Noonan

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael Herbert

International Great Hunger commemoration to be held in New Orleans

"Ireland and New Orleans share a common bond of suffering and loss, and a spirit of endurance and hope in the face of catastrophe" writes:

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Tom Enright

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Bernard Cowen

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Ger Connolly

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Paddy Power

Erskine Childers - 4th President of Ireland

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Michael Begley

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Gerard Lynch

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Thomas Hussey

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Barry Desmond

France Marks the 95th Anniversary of the End of WWI﻿

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Garret FitzGerald

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Jim Tunney

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - David Thornley

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Hugh Byrne

Top ten Irish phrases and and what they really mean

In an article entitled "Top ten Irish phrases and and what they really mean (From "Erin go bragh" to "Cead Mile Failte", an insight into Irish sayings)" By NIALL O'DOWD, IrishCentral Founder

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Richard Burke

Members of the Nineteenth Dáil - Justin Keating

France Marks the 95th Anniversary of the End of WWI

In an article entitled "Top ten Irish phrases and and what they really mean (From "Erin go bragh" to "Cead Mile Failte", an insight into Irish sayings)" By
NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral Founder