Hugo Victor Flinn (8 September 1879 – 28 January 1943) was an 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 Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician and businessman. He was born in Peel, Isle of Man in 1879, one of four children of Hugo Flinn, wholesale fish merchant with wide interests in Ireland and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, and his wife (Mary) Kate (née Condren or Condran). The family's residence alternated on a six-month basis between

Arklow Arklow (; ; , ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 re ...

, County Wicklow, and

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, according to the seasonal nature of the fish trade. He was educated at Dungarvan, Kinsale,

Mungret College Mungret College was a Jesuit apostolic school and a lay secondary school near Limerick, Ireland. Located on the western outskirts of the modern-day suburban town of Raheen, it was operational from 1882 until 1974 when it closed as a school for ...

, and Clongowes Wood College (1892–1897). He graduated from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

in 1899. His family moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

where he qualified as an electrical engineer and worked with the Liverpool Electricity Supply Board. He assumed the management of his father's business before joining the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

on the outbreak of

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 ...

. Attached to the Ordnance Corps, he was demobilised as a captain in 1918. On the death of his father in 1919, he disposed of the family business and established himself in Cork as an electrical engineer. In 1925 he came to public attention when he started a campaign to abolish

Income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

.Irish Election. Vigorous Party Efforts, ''The Times'', 31 August 1927. Flinn was courted by the

party and was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil

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 Borough constituency at the September 1927 general election. He retained his seat at each subsequent election until his death in 1943. No

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held for his seat. After Fianna Fáil's election victory in 1932 Flinn was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance. In 1939, he was also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, serving in both positions until his death. As Minister of State, he devoted much of his time to the relief of unemployment. On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was appointed turf controller and charged with the task of producing enough fuel to replace the two million tons of coal hitherto imported.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flinn, Hugo 1879 births 1943 deaths Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland British Army personnel of World War I Fianna Fáil TDs Manx people Members of the 10th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Members of the 7th Dáil Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 9th Dáil Parliamentary Secretaries of the 10th Dáil Parliamentary Secretaries of the 7th Dáil Parliamentary Secretaries of the 8th Dáil Parliamentary Secretaries of the 9th Dáil People educated at Clongowes Wood College Politicians from County Cork Royal Logistic Corps officers