Michael D'Arcy (born 7 March 1934) is an Irish former
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 à ...
politician, who served as a
TD for the
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
constituency.
D'Arcy's political career began in 1958, when his father Timothy died and Michael was co-opted into his county council seat, which he served in for fifteen years. He was first elected 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
1977 general election, and held his seat until the
1987 general election when he lost it to
Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency since 1987. He previously served as Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditu ...
of the
Labour Party.
He was re-elected at the
1989 general election, at the expense of party colleague
Avril Doyle
Avril Doyle (; born 18 April 1949) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from 1986 to 1987 and from 1995 to 1997. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2004 and 2004 to 2009, a Te ...
, but she regained her seat at the
1992 general election. D'Arcy was then elected to the
20th Seanad on the
Agricultural Panel
The Agricultural 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 Agricultural Panel elects eleven senators.
Election
Art ...
.
At the
1997 general election he was returned to the
28th Dáil, again unseating Avril Doyle. He lost his seat again at the
2002 general election, this time to the independent candidate
Liam Twomey
Liam Twomey (born 3 April 1967) is a medical doctor and former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency from 2002 to 2007 and 2011 to 2016.
Early life and education
Twomey was born in Bealad, Cl ...
, who later joined Fine Gael.
In 1981, in
Garret FitzGerald's first government, D'Arcy was appointed a
Minister of State for Agriculture. In FitzGerald's second government in 1982, he was appointed as
Minister of State at the Department of Fisheries and Forestry and
at the Department of the Gaeltacht. He was dismissed in February 1986.
In 1999 he was elected to
Gorey
Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''.
As a growi ...
Town Council; he was re-elected at the
2004 local elections, and retired in 2009.
[
D'Arcy is married to Marie, and their son Michael W. D'Arcy is a former TD and senator.]
See also
*Families in the Oireachtas
There is a tradition in Irish politics of having family members succeed each other, frequently in the same parliamentary seat. This article lists families where two or more members of that family have been members ( TD or Senator) of either of th ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcy, Michael
1934 births
Living people
Fine Gael TDs
Members of the 21st Dáil
Members of the 22nd Dáil
Members of the 23rd Dáil
Members of the 24th Dáil
Members of the 26th Dáil
Members of the 20th Seanad
Members of the 28th Dáil
Members of Wexford County Council
20th-century Irish farmers
Ministers of State of the 24th Dáil
Ministers of State of the 22nd Dáil
Fine Gael senators
Agricultural Panel senators