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Michael O'Kennedy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) O'Kennedy in 1979 | |
| Minister for Labour | |
| In office 14 November 1991 – 11 February 1992 | |
| Taoiseach | Charles Haughey |
| Preceded by | Bertie Ahern |
| Succeeded by | Brian Cowen |
| Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
| In office 10 March 1987 – 14 November 1991 | |
| Taoiseach | Charles Haughey |
| Preceded by | Austin Deasy |
| Succeeded by | Michael Woods |
| European Commissioner for Personnel, Administration and the Statistics Office | |
| In office 6 January 1981 – 5 March 1982 | |
| President | Gaston Thorn |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Richard Burke |
| Minister for Finance | |
| In office 12 December 1979 – 16 December 1980 | |
| Taoiseach | Charles Haughey |
| Preceded by | George Colley |
| Succeeded by | Gene Fitzgerald |
| Minister for the Public Service | |
| In office 12 December 1979 – 24 March 1980 | |
| Taoiseach | Charles Haughey |
| Preceded by | George Colley |
| Succeeded by | Gene Fitzgerald |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 5 July 1977 – 11 December 1979 | |
| Taoiseach | Jack Lynch |
| Preceded by | Garret FitzGerald |
| Succeeded by | Brian Lenihan |
| Minister for Transport and Power | |
| In office 3 January 1973 – 14 March 1973 | |
| Taoiseach | Jack Lynch |
| Preceded by | Brian Lenihan |
| Succeeded by | Peter Barry |
| Parliamentary Secretary | |
| 1970–1973 | Education |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1997 – April 2002 | |
| In office February 1982 – November 1992 | |
| In office July 1969 – 6 January 1981 | |
| Constituency | Tipperary North |
| Senator | |
| In office 17 February 1993 – 6 June 1997 | |
| Constituency | Administrative Panel |
| In office 23 June 1965 – 18 June 1969 | |
| Constituency | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1936-02-21)21 February 1936 Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Died | 15 April 2022(2022-04-15) (aged 86) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | St Flannan's College |
| Alma mater | |
Michael O'Kennedy (21 February 1936 – 15 April 2022) was an IrishFianna Fáil politician who served in a range of cabinet positions, includingMinister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,Minister for Foreign Affairs,Minister for Finance andIrish European Commissioner.[1] He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) for theTipperary North constituency and was also a member ofSeanad Éireann.[2]
O'Kennedy was born inNenagh, County Tipperary, into a family that had strong links toSinn Féin and theOld IRA. He was educated locally at St. Mary's National School before later attendingSt Flannan's College inEnnis, County Clare. He briefly studied for the priesthood atSt Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he was a contemporary of futureSocial Democratic and Labour Party leaderJohn Hume. After securing first place in a university scholarship in 1953, O'Kennedy obtained anMA degree fromUniversity College Dublin. He taught in Switzerland for a while before resuming his legal studies; he wascalled to the Bar in 1961. Twelve years later, he was appointedSenior Counsel.
O'Kennedy joinedFianna Fáil in 1957 and became an active party member. He contested the1965 general election inTipperary North; however, he narrowly failed to win a seat. He was elected to the11th Seanad, where he became the party spokesperson on various issues, including finance and education.
O'Kennedy contested the1969 general election and was successful in securing a seat inDáil Éireann.[3] He remained on the backbenches until 1970 when theArms Crisis resulted in a major reshuffle at cabinet and junior ministerial levels. O'Kennedy becameParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education.
In December 1972, a cabinet reshuffle byTaoiseachJack Lynch saw O'Kennedy join the cabinet asminister without portfolio. There was much speculation as to what portfolio he would take; however, the new year saw him becomeMinister for Transport and Power. His tenure was short-lived, for the1973 general election saw aFine Gael–Labour Party coalition government come to power.
Immediately after Fianna Fáil's loss of power, O'Kennedy was appointed Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs. He retained the same brief in a 1975 front bench reshuffle. After this reshuffle, he revealed his future leadership aspirations as he became associated with a hardline policy document regarding Northern Ireland. The paper called for a complete and immediate withdrawal of theBritish Government from Northern Ireland. This new policy opened up the old divisions in Fianna Fáil that had come to light during the Arms Crisis in 1970. It was also against the party's wishes and was at odds with party policy; however, O'Kennedy's new policy was welcomed by the hardline Republican element at the grassroots level within the party.
The1977 general election saw Fianna Fáil return to government with a twenty-seat majority in the Dáil. O'Kennedy was appointedMinister for Foreign Affairs in Jack Lynch's new cabinet.
In 1979, Lynch resigned as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequentleadership election was a contest betweenGeorge Colley andCharles Haughey. Colley was the favoured choice of the outgoing leadership and the majority of the cabinet, while Haughey had the backing of a large rump of backbench TDs who had become disillusioned with the party leadership. On the day before the crucial vote, O'Kennedy was the only cabinet minister to publicly endorse Haughey. Many believe that it was because of this support that Haughey was successful in becoming Taoiseach, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes. O'Kennedy's loyalty was rewarded when he was appointedMinister for Finance in the new government.
O'Kennedy's tenure as Minister for Finance was short-lived, delivering a stringent budget, as he took the position ofEuropean commissioner in January 1981. Because of his new appointment inBrussels, he also resigned from his Dáil seat. O'Kennedy took over asEuropean Commissioner for Personnel, Administration and the Statistics Office and was disappointed not to be made vice-president in theThorn Commission. He was, however, made a delegate to the president.
O'Kennedy's tenure in theEuropean Commission was unhappy. He quickly grew bored of the mundane day-to-day work as a commissioner and missed the cut-and-thrust nature of Irish politics, which was going through a volatile period. A general election was called forFebruary 1982, and O'Kennedy returned to contest his old seat. He was elected for Tipperary North once again and resigned as a European commissioner. O'Kennedy's return was seen as an attempt to assert his claim to the future leadership of Fianna Fáil, something that had been a contentious issue under Haughey and his failure to secure an overall majority in two elections. Fianna Fáil returned to power with the help of several Independent TDs, and O'Kennedy demanded a senior government position. His request was refused. Haughey offered him the post ofAttorney General, but O'Kennedy declined. As a result, he was left out of the short-lived administration.
The government fell in October that same year, and Fianna Fáil lost power at thesubsequent general election. A period of instability followed within Fianna Fáil as several TDs attempted to oust Charles Haughey as party leader.Desmond O'Malley was seen as the clear front-runner to succeed Haughey; however, O'Kennedy's name was also mentioned alongside other party stalwarts likeGerry Collins andBrian Lenihan. In the end, Haughey survived as party leader.
Following the1987 general election, Haughey was again Taoiseach and O'Kennedy returned to the cabinet asMinister for Agriculture and Food. This may have seemed like a demotion for someone with the experience of O'Kennedy; however, his nearly five-year tenure received praise from farming circles.
In November 1991, tensions arose within Fianna Fáil regarding the continued leadership of Haughey. Minister for FinanceAlbert Reynolds directly challenged the party leader and Taoiseach; however, the challenge failed. O'Kennedy supported the incumbent leader throughout the heave and took over asMinister for Labour in the subsequent reshuffle. Once again, this was viewed as a demotion; however, O'Kennedy viewed his role as one of the most important in the cabinet, considering the high unemployment rate.
In February 1992, Haughey stepped down as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, and Albert Reynolds won thesubsequent leadership election by a large majority. The formation of his new cabinet caused widespread shock as O'Kennedy and seven of his cabinet colleagues were effectively sacked in favour of supporters of the new Taoiseach. This brought his cabinet career to an end.
O'Kennedy lost his seat at the1992 general election, in what turned out to be a disaster for Fianna Fáil. He subsequently secured election to Seanad Éireann for the second time in his career.
O'Kennedy was re-elected to the Dáil at the1997 general election. He sought the Fianna Fáil nomination in the1997 presidential election, but received only 21 votes out of a total of 112, asMary McAleese became the party's nominee and eventual victor of the election.
After the2002 general election, O'Kennedy retired from national politics. He returned to work as a barrister and subsequently became a member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
O'Kennedy died on 15 April 2022,[4] aged 86.[5]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education 1970–1973 | Succeeded by |
| — | Minister without portfolio 1972–1973 | — |
| Preceded by | Minister for Transport and Power 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Foreign Affairs 1977–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Finance 1979–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Minister for the Public Service 1979–1980 | ||
| Preceded by | Irish European Commissioner 1981–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Agriculture and Food 1987–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Labour 1991–1992 | Succeeded by |
