Niamh Síle Bhreathnach (; born 1 June 1945) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education from 1993 to 1994 and 1994 to 1997. She served as 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

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

constituency from 1992 to 1997. She was a Senator from June 1997 to July 1997, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. She is one of a few TDs to be appointed a Minister on their first day in the Dáil as a TD. Bhreathnach was born in

Loughlinstown Loughlinstown () is a southern Dublin suburb, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, on the N11 national road. Loughlinstown is the location of St. Columcille's Hospital, which serves both south Dublin and Wicklow. The European Foundation for ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1945. She is the daughter of Breandán Breathnach, a civil servant and collector of

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. She was educated at

Dominican College Sion Hill Dominican College Sion Hill is one of the oldest girls' secondary schools in Ireland, founded in 1836 in Blackrock, County Dublin. Its approach to education is based on the Dominican ideal of developing the whole person. "Dominican College Sion ...

and

Froebel College of Education Froebel College of Education was one of five colleges in Ireland which was recognised by the Department of Education (Ireland), Department of Education for the training and education of national school teachers. It was located at Sion Hill, Cr ...

, Dublin, later qualifying as a remedial teacher. Bhreathnach was chairperson of the Labour Party from 1990 until 1993. She was elected as a TD for

at the 1992 general election, serving until her defeat at the 1997 general election. In 1993, she became Minister for Education in the

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 ...

-Labour Party coalition government. She remained in that post during the " Rainbow Coalition" until 1997. During her time as Minister, the first

White paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...

on Education was published,

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

for third-level institutions were abolished, and the Regional Technical Colleges were upgraded to

Institutes of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

. She also brought in the legacy posts, extra teaching positions for disadvantaged schools. She introduced the University Act,1997, which makes universities accountable for the public money they receive. After losing her Dáil seat in 1997, Bhreathnach was nominated by the outgoing Taoiseach,

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader o ...

, to the last days of the 20th Seanad. She sought a nomination from the Labour Party for the elections 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 ...

, and there was some surprise when she was not one of the five candidates nominated by the party. She did not seek a nomination from the nominating bodies. She stood again for the Dáil at the 2002 general election, but did not regain her seat, and did not contest the 2007 general election. She was a member of

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire–Ráth an Dúin) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that ...

for the

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average p ...

from 2004 to 2014.

References

External links

Niamh Bhreathnach's page on the Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhreathnach, Niamh 1945 births Living people Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 20th Seanad 20th-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 27th Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála Local councillors in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown People educated at Dominican College Sion Hill Ministers for Education (Ireland) Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Labour Party (Ireland) senators