Brian O'Shea (born 9 December 1944) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as

Minister of State at the Department of Health The Minister of State at the Department of Health is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Health of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Health. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet ran ...

from 1994 to 1997 and

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine A Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agricul ...

from 1993 to 1994. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

constituency from 1989 to 2011. O'Shea was born in

and educated at Mount Sion

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, Waterford and

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College (), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drum ...

. He worked as a teacher before entering politics. He was elected to

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. It has a population of 11,277 as per the 2022 census, the second largest town in the county. Overview Originally a small fishing village, the area saw rapi ...

Town Council in 1979, and in 1985 was elected to

Waterford City Council Waterford City Council () was the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in the city of Waterford in Ireland until 2014. As a city council, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The ...

and

Waterford County Council Waterford County Council () was the authority responsible for local government in County Waterford, Ireland. The remit of Waterford County Council also included some suburbs of the Waterford city not within the remit of Waterford City Council. ...

. He served on these local authorities until 1993. He first stood for election to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

at the February 1982 general election but was unsuccessful. He stood again at the November 1982 and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

general elections but was not elected on either occasion. O'Shea was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

in 1987 as a Senator for the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

. Two years later, at the 1989 general election he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for the

constituency. In 1993, O'Shea was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with responsibility for Food and Horticulture. In 1994, he was appointed

with responsibility for Mental Handicap, Public Health and Food Safety. He was party spokesperson for Defence (1997–1998); Education; Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands; Communications and Sport (1998–2002); Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (2002–2007); and Defence and the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

(2007–2011). He retired from politics at the 2011 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshea, Brian 1944 births Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin Irish schoolteachers Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of Waterford City Council Members of the 18th Seanad Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Ministers of State of the 27th Dáil Politicians from County Waterford Labour Party (Ireland) senators Labour Party (Ireland) local councillors Industrial and Commercial Panel senators Members of Waterford County Council