Patrick Harte (26 July 1931 – 8 January 2018) was an 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 for 36 years as

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 Donegal North-East.

Early life and family

He was born in 1931 in

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding th ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

. His son,

Jimmy Harte James Harte (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish former Labour Party politician and was a member of Seanad Éireann from April 2011 to September 2015. Formerly an elected representative of Fine Gael, he left after failing to win the party's nom ...

, is a former Labour Party Senator.

Political career

He was first elected to the 17th Dáil at the 1961 general election, and re-elected at eleven further general elections. In the 22nd Dáil, from 1981 to 1982, he was Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in

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 ...

Garret FitzGerald's government. In 1989 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Connacht–Ulster constituency at the elections to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. He lost his seat at the 1997 general election to the

Independent Fianna Fáil Independent Fianna Fáil was a splinter republican party in the Republic of Ireland created by Neil Blaney after his expulsion from Fianna Fáil following the Irish Arms Crisis (1969–1970). The party ceased to exist on 26 July 2006. It was ne ...

candidate

Harry Blaney Harry Blaney (18 February 1928 – 29 April 2013) was an Irish Independent Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal North-East constituency. His father was Neal Blaney, who was a TD from 1927 to 1948. Blaney was def ...

, and unsuccessfully contested the 1997 elections to

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 ...

on 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 ...

. After this, he retired from politics.

Post-retirement

After his retirement he was involved in a number of projects, including (along with

Glenn Barr Albert Glenn Barr OBE (19 March 1942 – 24 October 2017) was a politician from Derry, Northern Ireland, who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously hol ...

) the Messines

Island of Ireland Peace Park The Island of Ireland Peace Park and its surrounding park ( ga, Páirc Síochána d'Oileán na hÉireann), also called the Irish Peace Park or Irish Peace Tower in Messines, near Ypres in Flanders, Belgium, is a war memorial to the soldiers of ...

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. This park was officially opened in November 1998 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and King

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

to commemorate all Irishmen who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Harte died the morning of 8 January 2018 at the age of 86.

Awards

He was appointed an Honorary OBE in October 2006 for his ecumenical works. He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the National University of Ireland in September 2007 in recognition of his contribution to politics.

Reading

*Paddy Harte, ''Young Tigers and Mongrel Foxes: A life in politics'', The O'Brien Press, Dublin, 2005.

References