Liam Joseph Fitzgerald (born 1 September 1949) is an Irish former

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. Fitzgerald was born in Doon,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

and educated at the Christian Brothers school in Doon,

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College ( ga, Coláiste Phádraig), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 s ...

and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

. He worked as a teacher before becoming involved in politics. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1981 general election as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Dublin North-East constituency. He lost his seat at the February 1982 election but regained it in the November 1982 election. In 1991, he was a key member of the so-called "gang of four" that proposed a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

in the

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 leader of Fitzgerald's party,

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 ...

(the other members of the group were

Noel Dempsey Noel Dempsey (born 6 January 1953) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Transport from 2007 to 2011, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources from 2004 to 2007, Minister for Education and Scien ...

, Seán Power and M. J. Nolan). Haughey resigned in early 1992 and

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 ...

became Taoiseach, but Fitzgerald remained on the backbenches. He lost his Dáil seat again at the 1997 general election, but was then elected to the

21st Seanad This is a list of the members of the 21st Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. Unless otherwise indicated, these Senators were elected or appointed in 1997, after the 1997 general election and served u ...

by 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. ...

; he was re-elected in 2002 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 ...

. Fitzgerald resigned the party whip on 27 March 2007, and stated his intention to run as an independent candidate in the next general election. It has been said that he did this as a response to the cancellation of the candidate selection convention in Dublin North-East. However, he did not stand at the 2007 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Liam 1949 births Living people Members of Dublin City Council Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 22nd Seanad Politicians from County Limerick Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin Irish schoolteachers Fianna Fáil senators Labour Panel senators