Bernard Allen (born 9 September 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. 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 Cork North-Central constituency from 1981 to 2011. Allen was born in Cork city. He was educated at the North Monastery Christian Brothers School and

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

where he qualified with a diploma in Chemical Technology. Allen first became involved in politics in 1979 when he was elected to

Cork Corporation Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, t ...

, and was a member until 1995. He was first 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 ...

at the 1981 general election as a

TD for the Cork North-Central constituency and retained his seat at each subsequent general election until his retirement in 2011. At the 1987 general election Fine Gael lost power and Allen was appointed opposition spokesperson for

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. The following year he became Lord Mayor of Cork. In 1993 Allen became spokesperson for Social Welfare. In 1994 Fine Gael returned to government and

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, 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 legisl ...

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 of ...

appointed Allen as Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for Youth and Sport and at the Department of the Environment with special responsibility for local government reform. In February 2002 Michael Noonan became leader of Fine Gael and Allen was appointed spokesperson for Tourism, Sport and Recreation. Following the 2002 general election Allen was one of the few high-profile Fine Gael TDs who were re-elected. Following this he was appointed opposition spokesperson for the Environment and Local Government under the new leader

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 ...

. From 2004 to 2007, Allen was opposition spokesperson for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

and chairman of the Dáil sub-committee on European Affairs. From 2007 to 2011, he was chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. He retired from politics at the 2011 general election. As of 2019, he is a member of the board of Sport Ireland. He is married to Marie Dorney and they have three daughters.

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