Brian O'Shea (born 9 December 1944) is a former Irish Labour Party politician. He served as a

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

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

constituency from 1989 to 2011. O'Shea was born in

and educated at Mount Sion CBS, Waterford and St Patrick's College, Dublin. He worked as a teacher before entering politics. He was elected to

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the to ...

Town Council in 1979, and in 1985 was elected to Waterford City Council and

Waterford County Council Waterford County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Phort Láirge) was the authority responsible for local government in County Waterford, Ireland. The remit of Waterford County Council also included some suburbs of the Waterford city not within th ...

. He served on these local authorities until 1993. He first stood for election to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

at the February 1982 general election but was unsuccessful. He stood again at the November 1982 and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

general elections but was not elected on either occasion. O'Shea was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1987 on the

Industrial and Commercial Panel The Industrial and Commercial Panel ( ga, An Rolla Tionscail Agus Tráchtála) 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 Ind ...

. Two years later, at the 1989 general election he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for the

constituency. In 1993 O'Shea was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with responsibility for Food and Horticulture. In 1994 he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Handicap, Public Health and Food Safety. He was party spokesperson for Defence (1997–1998); Education; Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands; Communications and Sport (1998–2002); Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (2002–2007); and Defence and the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

(2007–2011). He retired from politics at the 2011 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshea, Brian 1944 births Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin Irish schoolteachers Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in County Waterford Members of the 18th Seanad Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Ministers of State of the 27th Dáil Politicians from County Waterford Labour Party (Ireland) senators