Daniel Desmond (3 October 1913 – 9 December 1964) was an Irish Labour Party politician and

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 seventeen years.

Early life

Desmond was born on 3 October 1913 in

Crosshaven Crosshaven () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood. Originally a fishing village, from the 19th century, the economy of the area became more rel ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, the second child of two sons and four daughters of Michael Desmond, carpenter, and his wife, Hanora White, both from County Cork. He was educated at the local national school and the Municipal College of Commerce, Cork. According to historian John Horgan, he was Cork based trade unionist, and was a founder member of

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 Christian- ...

but broke from the party when they introduced the Wages Standstill Order in 1939. He later joined the Labour Party. However, according to the ''

Dictionary of Irish Biography The ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (DIB) is a biographical dictionary of notable Irish people and people not born in the country who had notable careers in Ireland, including both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.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 1944 general election in the Cork South-East constituency, where he was defeated, winning 5.4% of the first-preference votes. However, he was successful on his next time as a candidate: at the 1948 general election he was the first candidate to be elected in the new 3-seat Cork South constituency. He took his seat in the

13th Dáil In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave ...

, and was re-elected at the 1951 general election and again in the

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

general elections, topping the poll again in 1951 and 1954. After further boundary changes, he was returned at the 1961 general election for the new 4-seat Cork Mid constituency. He was the Labour Party's chief spokesman on local government, and also had strong views on social issues in parliament, in particular housing, health and education. He was principally responsible for the passing of the ''Local Government (Superannuation) Act 1956'', providing a pension scheme for road workers. His abiding interest was the welfare of rural workers and the rural community generally. He was parliamentary leader of his party during the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

(1954–1957) and he later became deputy leader. A member of

Cork County Council Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

from 1945 until his death, he served on many committees such as the vocational educational committee, Cork housing and sanitary services, Cork health authority (health board) and the assistance board. Despite ill health, he participated strongly and at great length in important Dáil debates, and continued his constituency duties.

Family

He married Eileen Harrington, a civil servant, in 1956, and they had two daughters. Desmond died from a cardiac infarction caused by

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

on 9 December 1964 at St Stephen's Hospital, Cork. The by-election for his seat in the

17th Dáil 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...

was won on 10 March 1965 by his widow

Eileen Desmond Eileen Christine Desmond (; 29 December 1932 – 6 January 2005) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Welfare from 1981 to 1982. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 1969, 19 ...

, who sat in the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

for 22 years. His daughter, Paula Desmond, was a member of Cork County Council from 1985 to 2014. In 1996, as chairperson of Cork County Council, she opened a newly constructed bridge at

Belgooly Belgooly ( is a village in County Cork, Ireland, located 4.6 kilometres to the north-east of Kinsale. In 2016 it had a population of 826. History The Belgooly Flour Mill, a ruinous building within the village, is entered in the initial Record of ...

, County Cork, named after her father. Two housing estates in

Carrigaline Carrigaline () is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork city, and with a population of 15,770 people, it is one of the largest commuter towns of the city. The R611 regiona ...

and

Passage West Passage West (locally known as "Passage"; ) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork city. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets. Passage West was ...

were also named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Dan 1913 births 1964 deaths Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 13th Dáil Members of the 14th Dáil Members of the 15th Dáil Members of the 16th Dáil Members of the 17th Dáil Politicians from County Cork Spouses of Irish politicians