Brendan Daly (born 2 February 1940) is a former Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician. He was a long-serving

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Clare constituency, a government minister, and Senator. Daly was born in February 1940 in Cooraclare,

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

, and educated locally at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Kilrush school. His political career began at the 1973 general election, when he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Clare. He held his seat at six further general elections before losing it at the 1992 general election. He was returned at the 1997 general election but was defeated again in the 2002 general election. Daly was a strong supporter of

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

during his period as

leader. In 1980 Daly became

Minister of State at the Department of Labour The Minister for Labour () was originally a position in the Government of the Irish Republic, the unilateral declaration of independence, self-declared state which was established in 1919 by First Dáil, Dáil Éireann, the parliamentary assembl ...

. In 1982 he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry. When

returned to power after the 1987 general election he once again became a minister, this time as Minister for the Marine in the 20th Government of Ireland. Daly was not re-appointed as a minister when

entered into coalition with the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

after the 1989 general election, but was appointed as

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach. The position was first created ...

with responsibility for Heritage Affairs and

Minister of State at the Department of Finance The Minister of State at the Department of Finance is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Finance of the Government of Ireland. A Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed u ...

with responsibility for the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...

. He returned to the cabinet in February 1991 as

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. In November

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...

and

Pádraig Flynn Pádraig Flynn (born 9 May 1939) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Social Affairs from 1993 to 1999, Minister for Industry and Commerce and Minister for Justice from 1992 to 1993, Minister for th ...

were sacked from the government and Daly was appointed Minister for Social Welfare. His time in cabinet was short-lived; in February 1992, Haughey resigned as

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

and was succeeded by Reynolds, who did not appoint Daly to cabinet. He was appointed as

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. A Minister of Sta ...

from February 1992. Daly lost his Dáil seat in the election that year, retaining his position as Minister of State until the formation of a new government in January 1993. He in the Seanad election on the

Agricultural Panel The Agricultural 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 Agricultural Panel elects eleven senators. Election Art ...

, and was returned to the 20th Seanad. He was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1997 general election but lost his seat at the 2002 general election. He stood for election to the

22nd Seanad This is a list of the members of the 22nd Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 2002, after the 2002 general election and served until the close of poll for the ...

on the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) 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 Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

, and was returned to the Seanad for a second time. He was unsuccessful again at 2007 general election, and did not contest the subsequent elections to the 23rd Seanad. He has since retired from public life. Brendan Daly married Patricia Carmody of Kilrush, County Clare in the early 1970s. She died in March 2014. They have three children.

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