Mary Flaherty (born 17 May 1953) is a former Irish

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 � ...

politician who served as Minister of State for Poverty and the Family from 1981 to 1982. She served 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 Dublin North-West constituency from 1981 to 1997. Before her entry into politics, she was a secondary school teacher. Flaherty was elected to the Dáil on her first attempt, at the 1981 general election, as a

candidate in the Dublin North-West constituency. That election saw Fine Gael return to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party, and on her first day in the Dáil

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, 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 legisl ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

appointed Flaherty as Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare. This was a junior post under Minister

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 ...

, but because Desmond's health was poor Flaherty often found herself bearing much of the responsibility for the department. The government collapsed on 27 January 1982, when it lost a vote on the budget, and Flaherty left office when the new

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- ...

government was installed after the February 1982 general election. She later described her rapid promotion as having caused dissatisfaction amongst some older Fine Gael TDs who resented the rise of a 28-year-old woman. Flaherty had been re-elected to the

23rd Dáil Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

, and retained her seat through the next four general elections before losing it at the 1997 general election to Fianna Fáil's

Pat Carey Pat Carey (born 9 November 1947) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West (Dáil constituency), Dublin North-West constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as the Minister for Children, Eq ...

. After leaving the Dáil, she became Chief Executive of the CARI Foundation, a voluntary organisation supporting children affected by child sexual abuse. Mary Flaherty was married to former Fine Gael Senator and TD

Alexis FitzGerald Jnr Alexis J. G. FitzGerald (7 May 1945 – 15 July 2015) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a TD and Senator in the 1980s. FitzGerald stood unsuccessfully for Dáil Éireann at the 1973 general election in Dublin Central, at the ...

, who died on 15 July 2015.

References

1953 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Irish schoolteachers Local councillors in Dublin (city) 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 Members of the 27th Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers of State of the 22nd Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Spouses of Irish politicians Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin {{TeachtaDála-stub

See also

References