Edward Nealon (24 November 1929 – 28 January 2014) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and journalist.

Biography

He was born at

Aclare Aclare () is a village in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and the main village in the parish of Kilmactigue. Formerly, the village of Aclare was not part of the same-named townland, but straddled the border of the adjacent townlands ...

, County Sligo in 1929, the younger of two sons of Ted and Una Nealon. Hie mother died when Ted was two years old and the boys were raised by their father. He attended

St Nathy's College St Nathy’s College is a secondary school based in Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon. It is the diocesan college for the Diocese of Achonry. It is one of the oldest secondary schools in Ireland, having been founded in 1810. The School was located from ...

, Ballaghaderreen, County Mayo. He was 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 ...

as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for Sligo–Leitrim at the 1981 general election, and was re-elected at each subsequent general election until he retired from politics at the 1997 general election. Previously he had stood for election in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

at Dublin Clontarf, but failed to be elected. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1982 in the Fine Gael– Labour Party

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. After the November 1982 general election, another Fine Gael–Labour Party

was formed in December under Taoiseach

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

. Nealon was appointed as

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach. The position was first created ...

with responsibility for Arts and Culture, and in February 1983, he was appointed to the additional post of Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, with special responsibility for broadcasting. After the restructuring of government departments in January 1984, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Communications with special responsibility for radio and television. He was the founder and editor of ''Nealon's Guide to the Dáil and Seanad'' from 1973 to 1997. This book comes out after every general election and is regarded as the 'bible' of political statistics and information. Since 1997 it has been edited by '' The Irish Times''. In 2008, he published ''Tales from the Dáil bar'', a collection of anecdotes featuring many of the characters of Irish politics. Prior to going into politics, Nealon was a well-known current affairs presenter on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

. He won a Jacob's Award for his hosting of the television coverage of the

1973 Irish general election The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election too ...

results. He died in January 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nealon, Ted 1929 births 2014 deaths Fine Gael TDs Jacob's Award winners Irish television journalists Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Ministers of State of the 24th Dáil Ministers of State of the 22nd Dáil RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Politicians from County Sligo Writers from County Sligo People educated at St Nathy's College Broadcasters from County Sligo