Ray MacSharry (born 29 April 1938) is a former Irish
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 Páirtà Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
politician who served as
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Tao ...
from March 1982 to December 1982,
European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
The Commissioner for Agriculture is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski. The post is in charge of rural issues including most notably the controversial Common Agricultural Policy ...
from 1989 to 1993,
Minister for the Public Service in 1987,
Minister for Finance from March 1982 to December 1982 and 1987 to 1988,
Minister for Agriculture from 1979 to 1981,
Minister of State at the Department of the Public Service from 1978 to 1979. He 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
Sligo–Leitrim constituency from 1969 to 1988. He also served as
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP) for the
Connacht–Ulster constituency.
Early life
Born in
Sligo, MacSharry was educated at the local national school before later briefly attending
Summerhill College
Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland.
History
The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr L ...
. After leaving school he worked as a livestock dealer throughout
County Sligo
County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...
and
County Mayo, before becoming involved in the Meat Exporters Factory in his native town. MacSharry also owned his own haulage firm.
Political career
Beginnings
MacSharry came from a non-political family, however, he himself became an active member of
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 Páirtà Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
in Sligo. In 1967, he made his first move into politics when he secured election to both
Sligo Borough Council and
Sligo County Council
Sligo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Shligigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Sligo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...
. It was from this local base that MacSharry launched his national election campaign.
MacSharry was first elected to
Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil
TD for the
Sligo–Leitrim constituency at the
1969 general election.
It was a fourth general election triumph in succession for the party, however, he spent his first term on the backbenches. MacSharry was re-elected to the Dáil at the
1973 general election, however, Fianna Fáil were out of power as a
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 ...
–
Labour Party government came to power.
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 ...
Jack Lynch's subsequent front bench reshuffle, MacSharry was appointed Opposition Spokesperson on the
Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha PoiblÃ) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...
.
Following the
1977 general election, Fianna Fáil returned to government with a massive twenty-seat Dáil majority. In spite of entering his third term MacSharry was left on the backbenches. With the introduction of the new
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
positions in 1978, he secured a junior ministerial post for the first time, as
Minister of State at the Department of the Public Service.
Cabinet minister
In 1979, Jack Lynch suddenly announced his resignation as Taoiseach and as Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequent
leadership contest was a straight battle between
George Colley
George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...
and
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 ...
. Colley was the favoured choice of the outgoing leadership and of the majority of the cabinet while Haughey had the backing of a large rump of backbench TDs who had become disillusioned with the party leadership. MacSharry, in spite of serving as junior minister to Colley, was one of the strongest supporters of Haughey and even ended up nominating him for the position of party leader. Haughey succeeded in becoming party leader, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes, and was later elected Taoiseach by the Dáil.
MacSharry's loyalty was subsequently rewarded when he was appointed
Minister for Agriculture in the new government. Agriculture was viewed as a key portfolio in Haughey's new cabinet and MacSharry was regarded as an effective Minister at a time when farm prices were falling. He was also successful in agricultural negotiations with the
EEC.
Following the
1981 general election, Fianna Fáil were out of power. In the new Fianna Fáil front bench MacSharry was retained as Spokesperson for Agriculture, but a later reshuffle saw him move to fisheries.
Fianna Fáil returned to government following the
February 1982 general election and MacSharry was promoted to the positions of
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Tao ...
and
Minister for Finance. At a time when Ireland was going through a recession, MacSharry introduced a budget which increased income tax at all levels. It was his only budget as the government fell after just nine months in office and a new coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party took office.
1983 bugging scandal
In 1983, MacSharry resigned from the Fianna Fáil front bench due to the a phone tapping scandal, when it was revealed that as Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, he had borrowed police tape recorders to secretly record conversations with a cabinet colleague. He defended his action by saying that rumours were sweeping the party that he could be 'bought' (bribed) to support efforts to depose Haughey; he claimed he used the equipment to record any attempts made to offer bribes. The scandal was however primarily focused on the decision by the
Minister for Justice,
Seán Doherty, to bug the phones of two leading political journalists to discover their anti-Haughey sources. MacSharry was a secondary but high-profile casualty of the scandal, as the equipment he had used had been supplied by Doherty, who had requested it from Assistant
Garda Commissioner Joseph Ainsworth. Ainsworth was also forced to resign when the scandal reached the headlines.
Political comeback and European Commissioner
MacSharry spent a number of years in the political wilderness following the phone-tapping scandal. He was elected 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 ...
as an
MEP for
Connacht–Ulster in 1984.
Following the
1987 general election, MacSharry was returned to the Dáil once again. He resigned his European Parliament seat when he was appointed Minister for Finance in Haughey's new government. During his second tenure in charge of finance, MacSharry committed himself to bringing order to the public finances and the poor economic situation. His ruthless cutting of state spending earned him the nickname ''Mack the Knife''.
During this time he came to be identified as Haughey's heir apparent as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. MacSharry, however, had no such aspirations and had actually wanted to leave politics by the time he was forty-five. He was now fifty and had achieved some of the highest offices in the
Government of Ireland
The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.
The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...
. In 1988, MacSharry's loyalty to Haughey was rewarded when he was appointed European Commissioner. As a result of this he resigned his Dáil seat and ended his domestic political career.
MacSharry is well known as the first European Commissioner for Agriculture to be able to work out a meaningful compromise on reform of the
Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...
in 1992. The MacSharry reforms as they are known, mark the turning point between the old CAP policy, and the new, although many other reforms followed his.
Retirement from politics
Following the completion of his term as European Commissioner, MacSharry retired from politics to pursue business interests. He is currently a director on the boards of a variety of companies including
Bank of Ireland and
Ryanair Holdings. In 1999, he was appointed chairman of
Eircom plc. MacSharry is also a member of the Comite d'Honneur of the
Institute of European Affairs.
MacSharry is a non-executive director of
Irish Life and Permanent
Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc, formerly Irish Life and Permanent plc is a provider of personal financial services in Ireland. Irish Life Assurance plc and the Irish Permanent Building Society merged to form the Irish Life and Permanent Group ...
and receives pension payments of €88,936 every year.
Private life
MacSharry was married to Elaine and the couple had six children. One of his sons,
Marc MacSharry
Marc MacSharry (born 12 July 1973) is an independent, formerly Fianna Fáil, politician who is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Sligo–Leitrim since 2016. From 2002 to 2016, he was a Fianna Fáil Senator on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He res ...
, has served as a
Councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
on
Sligo County Council
Sligo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Shligigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Sligo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...
, as a
Senator in
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 ...
representing 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 ...
from 2002 to 2016, and as a
TD for the constituency of
Sligo–Leitrim since 2016. His nephew Tom MacSharry was a
Councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
on
Sligo Borough Council, 2004–09, and served as Mayor in 2006–07.
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
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macsharry, Ray
1938 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Galway
Fianna Fáil MEPs
Fianna Fáil TDs
Irish European Commissioners
Institute of European Affairs
Ministers for Finance (Ireland)
Members of the 19th Dáil
Members of the 20th Dáil
Members of the 21st Dáil
Members of the 22nd Dáil
Members of the 23rd Dáil
Members of the 24th Dáil
Members of the 25th Dáil
MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1984–1989
Ministers for Agriculture (Ireland)
Ministers of State of the 21st Dáil
Ministers for Transport (Ireland)
People educated at Summerhill College
People from Sligo (town)
Politicians from County Sligo
TánaistÃ
European Commissioners 1989–1992