Seán Barrett (born 9 August 1944) 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 Ceann Comhairle of

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 ...

from 2011 to 2016,

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and Minister for the Marine from 1995 to 1997, Government Chief Whip from 1982 to 1986 and 1994 to 1995. 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

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 1981 to 2002 and 2007 to 2020.

Early life

He was educated at CBS Dún Laoghaire, C.B.C. Monkstown and

Presentation Brothers The Congregation of Presentation Brothers is an international Catholic congregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ignatius Rice, now Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Presentation Brothers live ...

College in

Glasthule Glasthule ( ; ) is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is along County Dublin’s south coast, between Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey. Amenities Sandycove and Glasthule are served by a number of businesses and amenities, including retail outlets, pu ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. Before Barrett entered politics he was a partner in a successful Dublin-based insurance brokerage firm (Barrett, Hegarty Moloney, established in 1980). A keen fan of horse-racing, in 1987, he also established Seán Barrett Bloodstock Insurances Ltd.

Political career

At the 1977 general election, Barrett stood as a Fine Gael candidate in the Dublin County South, but failed to win a seat. He was first elected to

when he stood in the

constituency at the 1981 general election, where he was returned at each subsequent election until his retirement at the 2002 general election. He came out of retirement to successfully contest the 2007 general election. In 1999, he announced that he would not contest the next election, saying "at this stage, I believe it is time to make way for the next generation who must be given the chance to make their own contribution." Bogdan Borusewicz Seán Barrett Kancelaria Senatu

Bogdan Borusewicz Seán Barrett Kancelaria Senatu

When Barrett, Liam T. Cosgrave and

Monica Barnes Monica Barnes (; 12 February 1936 – 2 May 2018) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire (Dáil constituency), Dún Laoghaire constituency from 1982 to 1992 and 1997 to 2002. She was a Seanad ...

were each first elected in 1981, Fine Gael secured three of the five seats and 48% of the first preference vote in Dún Laoghaire. But this massive vote waned over the following years and when Barrett and Barnes retired at the 2002 general election, Fine Gael failed to win even one seat in Dún Laoghaire.

Return to politics

In February 2006, Barrett announced that he wanted to come back from retirement, and stand again as a Fine Gael candidate at the next general election. He insisted that he would stand only if selected by the local party members, and would not accept being imposed as a candidate by Fine Gael headquarters. At a selection meeting in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

in May 2006, Barrett and barrister Eugene Regan were chosen as Fine Gael's two candidates in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. With return of Barrett, the party was confident of winning two of the five seats, but at the general election in May 2007, Barrett was the fourth candidate returned to the

30th Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

and Regan was not elected. Barrett did not return immediately to Fine Gael's

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

, but became Chairperson of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

Joint Committee on

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and Energy Security. He was subsequently promoted back to the front bench as Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs following an attempted heave against

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

. He met Chinese President

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

in 2013.

Mahon Tribunal

In evidence to the

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of c ...

on 8 June 2006, A report in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' in July 2006 said that a representative of Fine Gael had described the Tribunal "as an outrage and a disgrace" for allowing unfounded allegations to be made against Barrett. Fine Gael, through its solicitor, expressed regret to the Tribunal on 25 July for this remark, describing it as 'inappropriate'.

References

External links