Irish politician (1936?2006)
Michael O'Leary
(8 May 1936 ? 11 May 2006) was an Irish judge, politician and barrister who served as a Judge of the
District Court
from 1997 to 2006,
Tanaiste
and
Minister for Energy
from 1981 to 1982,
Leader of the Labour Party
from 1981 to 1982 and
Minister for Labour
from 1973 to 1977. He served as a
Teachta Dala
(TD) from 1965 to 1987.
[1]
He was a
Member of the European Parliament
(MEP) from 1979 to 1981.
He resigned from the
Labour Party
in 1982 to join
Fine Gael
.
Early life
[
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]
O'Leary was born in
Cork
in 1936,
[2]
the son of a
publican
. He was educated at
Presentation College
,
University College Cork
,
Columbia University
, and
King's Inns
. On returning to Ireland, he became involved in the Labour Party and was employed as Education Officer for the
Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
(ITGWU). In this role he was instrumental in establishing the Universities Branch, affiliated to
Dublin North-Central
constituency, bringing together Labour Party students of the Dublin University Fabian Society in
Trinity College Dublin
and of
University College Dublin
.
Political career
[
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]
O'Leary was first elected to
Dail Eireann
as a Labour Party
TD
for
Dublin North-Central
at the
1965 general election
.
[3]
His agent was Bob Mitchell, Chairman of Dublin University Fabian Society, who could claim credit in a dirty campaign for picking up transfers to squeeze out the Labour Party front-runner on the 11th recount.
When he was first elected to the Dail, O'Leary encouraged the Labour Party to take a more left-wing stance in its policies. He was initially strongly opposed to the idea of a
coalition
with
Fine Gael
, but following the
1969 general election
he believed that there was a need for a new approach. When the Labour Party and
Fine Gael
formed the
National Coalition government
following the
1973 general election
he was appointed
Minister for Labour
.
In 1977, he was narrowly defeated by
Frank Cluskey
for the leadership of the party. O'Leary was elected to the
European Parliament
for the
Dublin
constituency in 1979.
Cluskey resigned as Labour Party leader when he lost his Dail seat at the
1981 general election
and O'Leary was elected unanimously to succeed him. In the short-lived
Fine Gael?Labour Party government
of 1981 to 1982, O'Leary became
Tanaiste
and
Minister for Energy
. After the government's defeat at the
February 1982 general election
he remained leader until he suddenly resigned both the leadership and his party membership on 28 October, in the aftermath of a party conference vote on a potential coalition with
Fine Gael
.
[4]
On 3 November he joined Fine Gael.
[5]
[6]
At the
November 1982 general election
, he was elected a Fine Gael TD in the
Dublin South-West
constituency. After the election, a new
Fine Gael?Labour government
was formed, but O'Leary was kept out of cabinet office by his former Labour colleagues.
In 1985, O'Leary introduced a
private member's bill
on divorce which preceded the government's own
1986 divorce referendum
.
When the
Progressive Democrats
were formed in 1985 he considered joining, but remained with Fine Gael.
He did not contest the
1987 general election
and afterwards he moved back to Cork and practised as a barrister. He was elected as a Fine Gael member of
Cork City Council
at the
1991 local elections
. He unsuccessfully contested the
1992 general election
in
Cork North-Central
and received about 2% of the valid poll.
[7]
He was appointed a
District Court
judge in 1997 by the Fine Gael?Labour Party?
Democratic Left
coalition government
.
Death
[
edit
]
O'Leary died in France in May 2006, following a drowning accident in a swimming pool.
[7]
He was on holiday, having retired as a judge just days earlier.
References
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External links
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Note that the boundaries of Dublin South-West from 1981 onwards share no common territory with the pre-1977 boundaries. See
§History and boundaries
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History
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Leadership
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Leadership elections
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