Alex White (born 3 December 1958) is an Irish lawyer and a former
Labour Party politician who served as
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications ( ga, An tAire Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
The ...
from 2014 to 2016,
Minister of State for Primary Care from 2012 to 2014 and
Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad 2007 to 2011. He served as a
Teachta Dála (TD) for the
Dublin South constituency from 2011 to 2016. He was a
Senator for the
Cultural and Educational Panel
The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five s ...
from 2007 to 2011.
Early life
White grew up in
Marino, Dublin
Marino () is an inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It was built, in a planned form, on former grounds of Marino House, in an area between Drumcondra, Donnycarney, Clontarf, and what became Fairview. The initial developmen ...
. He was educated at
Chanel College,
Coolock
Coolock () is a large suburban area, centred on a village, on Dublin city's Northside in Ireland. Coolock is crossed by the Santry River, a prominent feature in the middle of the district, with a linear park and ponds. The Coolock suburban are ...
, and later at
Trinity College Dublin and
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environmen ...
. He was called to the
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar ( ...
in 1987.
White was a student activist in Trinity College, where he was president of the Students' Union and also for a time a supporter of various Trotskyist groupings, including the
League for a Workers Republic. He was later a national officer of the
Union of Students in Ireland. During his time as a producer with
RTÉ, he was active in the
SIPTU
SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...
trade union. In common with
Mary McAleese, he was attacked and criticised by a group led by
Eoghan Harris
Eoghan Harris (born 13 March 1943) is an Irish journalist, columnist, director, and former politician. He has held posts in various and diverse political parties. He was a leading theoretician in the Marxist-Leninist Workers' Party of Ireland, p ...
and associated with the
Workers' Party, over what they perceived as their bias towards Republican groups in the North.
White was a strong opponent of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act, which prevented
Sinn Féin members from being heard. White has a long record of involvement in campaigns to further the equal rights of women. He actively campaigned for divorce in 1986 and 1995, and was a Director of Elections for the Anti-Amendment campaign on the North side of Dublin in 1983.
Political career
He was first elected to
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) A ...
in 2004, for the
Terenure-
Rathfarnham local electoral area. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the
2007 general election in the
Dublin South constituency.
White was nominated as a general election candidate in 2007, by the Labour Party leadership. He had voted for coalition with
Fine Gael in a Labour Party congress (the line of
Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...
, then leader of the party). His election to the Seanad was due to a voting pact with
Sinn Féin.
He was the Labour Party candidate in the
2009 by-election in Dublin South. He came second behind the former RTÉ economics editor
George Lee.
[ White was his party's Seanad group leader and Spokesperson on Children between 2007 and February 2011, when he was elected to the Dáil. He subsequently was appointed as Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.
White was leader of an Oireachtas delegation that met the ]Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
's Budgetary and European Affairs committees in Berlin in late January 2012.
White was formally nominated for the position of Minister of State for Primary Care by Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
* Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
* Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*" Éa ...
on 27 September 2012, following the resignation of Róisín Shortall
Róisín Shortall (born 25 April 1954) is an Irish Social Democrats politician who has been joint leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency since 1992. She previousl ...
.
Following the resignation of Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
* Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
* Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*" Éa ...
as Leader of the Labour Party, in the aftermath of Labour's poor result at the 2014 local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...
and European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
elections, White announced his candidacy for the party leadership. On 4 July 2014, Joan Burton
Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2 ...
was elected as Labour Party leader, defeating White by 77% to 22%.
Alex White played a key role in the 2015 in the marriage equality referendum campaign.
On 11 July 2014, he was appointed Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications ( ga, An tAire Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
The ...
.
White lost his seat at the 2016 general election.[ He remained Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources during prolonged talks on government formation.
In June 2017, he was co-opted to fill a vacancy on ]Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire–Ráth an Dúin) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities th ...
.
In January 2019, White was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dublin constituency in the 2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
. He got 18,293 first-preference votes (5.0%) but was not elected.
White returned full-time to the Irish Bar in 2016 and continues to practise as a Senior Counsel. He is chair of the Employment Bar Association. Although retaining membership of the Labour Party he has not been politically active since 2019.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Alex
1958 births
Living people
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Irish barristers
Irish radio producers
Labour Party (Ireland) TDs
Local councillors in South Dublin (county)
Members of the 23rd Seanad
Members of the 31st Dáil
Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil
RTÉ people
Labour Party (Ireland) senators
Local councillors in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown
Alumni of King's Inns
People from Coolock
People educated at Chanel College, Dublin