Willie Penrose | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party | |
| In office 29 February 2016 – 26 February 2020 | |
| Leader | |
| Preceded by | Jack Wall |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Minister of State | |
| 2011 | Environment, Community and Local Government |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 2007 – February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Longford–Westmeath |
| In office November 1992 – May 2007 | |
| Constituency | Westmeath |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Penrose (1956-08-01)1 August 1956 (age 69) Ballynacargy,County Westmeath, Ireland |
| Political party | Labour (1969–2011; 2013–) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent(2011–13) |
| Spouse | Anne Fitzsimons |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | |
Willie Penrose (born 1 August 1956) is an Irish formerLabour Party politician who served asChairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party from 2016 to 2020 and aMinister of State from March 2011 to November 2011. He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020.[1][2]
Penrose was born inBallynacargy,County Westmeath, in 1956. He was educated atColáiste Mhuire, Mullingar, Multyfarnham Agricultural College,University College Dublin (UCD), and theKing's Inns.[3] At UCD, he studied Agricultural Science, graduating in 1979 with a bachelor's degree; after graduation, with a colleague, he formed an agricultural consultancy firm in Mullingar. In 1986 he took up the position of advisor to the Minister of State at the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Tourism,Michael Moynihan, resigning from the agricultural consultancy to do so.
He qualified as a barrister in 1990, before entering into national politics. He has published a book on agricultural law.[4]
In 1984, Penrose was co-opted on toWestmeath County Council, and a year later, he ran in the local elections, winning his seat in the Mullingar Lough Owel local electoral area by a margin of just six votes. In the1991 local elections, he topped the poll in the Mullingar Rural Area.[5]
At the1992 general election, in which the Labour Party won a record 33 seats (later surpassed in 2011), he was first elected to theDáil as a Labour Party TD for theWestmeath constituency.[6]
In 2002, Penrose was a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. Although he was part of a joint ticket withPat Rabbitte, who won the leadership comfortably, he was narrowly defeated for the deputy leadership byLiz McManus, polling 1,636 votes to McManus's 1,728.
On 9 March 2011, he was appointed asMinister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for Housing and Planning, attending meetings of the cabinet.[7][8][9]
On 15 November 2011, he resigned as Minister of State due to his opposition to the government's decision to closeColumb Barracks inMullingar.[10][11] Penrose said: "I understand and appreciate that significant efforts were made by my Labour colleagues in government, who fully understood the depths of my feelings in this regard, to resolve this matter, but to no avail."[12][13] He also resigned the Labour parliamentary party whip.[2]
In February 2012,The Phoenix magazine contrasted Penrose who "eats at the PLP tables in the Dáil restaurant and is often seen chatting to Gilmore on the corridors" with two other backbenchers who lost the party whip,Tommy Broughan andPatrick Nulty, both of whom had been "banished" from the Labour parliamentary offices.[14] Penrose rejoined the parliamentary Labour Party in October 2013.[15]
He was narrowly re-elected to the Dáil at the2016 general election, one of just seven Labour TDs to secure election. On 5 July 2018, he announced that he would not contest thenext general election.[16]Alan Mangan was selected as his replacement for the 2020 general election, but Mangan was not elected.[17]