Denis Lyons (1 August 1935 – 7 July 2014) was an 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. Lyons was elected to

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 ...

in 1972. He was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the 1981 general election, when he was one of two Fianna Fáil candidates returned to the 22nd Dáil as TDs for the Cork North-Central constituency. He was re-elected at the next four general elections, until his defeat at the 1992 general election. He achieved ministerial office in 1987, in the

25th Dáil Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

, when Fianna Fáil returned to power under

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 ...

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 ...

and formed the 29th Government of Ireland. In March 1987, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Tourism and Transport with responsibility for Tourism. At the 1989 general election Fianna Fáil hoped to increase its representation in the 26th Dáil but instead lost seats, and entered a coalition government 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 ...

. Lyons returned to his previous job as Minister of State, this time in the renamed Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications. He left ministerial office in a reshuffle on 11 February 1992, when

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 ...

took over as Taoiseach. At the 1992 general election, Fianna Fáil won only one seat in the five-seater Cork North-Central constituency, and

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

's Liam Burke replaced Lyons in the

27th Dáil 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

. Lyons then stood unsuccessfully at the 1993

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

election for 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 In ...

. He contested the 1997 Seanad election 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 ...

but again lost, and then retired from politics. He died on 7 July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Denis 1935 births 2014 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil Ministers of State of the 25th Dáil Ministers of State of the 26th Dáil Politicians from County Cork Members of Cork County Council