Detta O'Cathain, Baroness O'Cathain, (; 2 February 1938 – 23 April 2021) was an Irish-born British businesswoman and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician.

Early life and education

Margaret M. B. Ó Catháin was born in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, daughter of Caoimhghin Ó Catháin, of Dublin, and Margaret (née Prior). She was educated at Laurel Hill Convent in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, before earning a BA at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

and emigrating to England.

Business career

Ó Catháin was a director of many companies. She served as non-executive director of

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

from 1984 to 1993, of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

from 1985 to 2000, and of

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

from 1993 to 2004. She served as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Milk Marketing Board The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

from 1984 to 1989 and of the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

from 1990 to 1995. She was also a director of

BNP/Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

(UK) and

Allders Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom. The original store was established in 1862 in Croydon by Joshua Allder. In the second half of the 20th century, this parent store was developed into a chain of depart ...

. In the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

she was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE).

Political career

Baroness O'Cathain made many appearances on the BBC's '' Question Time'' during the 1980s. She was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baroness O'Cathain, of The Barbican in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, on 21 June 1991 and sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on the Conservative benches. She served on a number of committees within the House, including the

Constitution Committee The Constitution Committee is a cross-party select committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee's remit is "to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming befo ...

and the Economic Affairs Committee. She also sat on the

European Union Committee The European Union Committee was a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its terms of reference were "to consider European Union documents and other matters relating to the European Union", as well as " ...

, chairing the Sub-Committee on Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment. She was known for her socially conservative views, in particular her efforts to retain the ban on

same-sex couple A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage Marriage, also called ma ...

s from adopting, and had taken on a leadership role against gay rights after the death of Lady Young. In 2004, Lady O'Cathain denied that her decision to step down from the board of

was connected with a threatened boycott of the airline by

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

group Stonewall. Gay rights supporters took exception to what was described as her attempted "wrecking" amendment of the civil partnerships bill. She responded that her amendment was "nothing to do with homosexuals at all." In 2009, she proposed a law criminalising the possession of "extreme pornographic writings", similar to the recently passed law on images. In 2014, Baroness O’Cathain was selected to chair the

inquiry into civil use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), devices commonly referred to as drones.

Personal life

Baroness O’Cathain married William Ernest John Bishop in 1963. He died in 2001. She died at her home in Arundel, West Sussex, following a short illness, in April 2021. Baroness Janet Fookes paid tribute to her, saying that she was "never afraid to speak her mind".

References

External links

Speeches by Baroness O'Cathain
TheWorkForYou.com
Biography - Baroness O'Cathain
UK Parliament {{DEFAULTSORT:OCathain, Detta OCathain, Baroness 1938 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British businesswomen 21st-century British businesswomen Alumni of University College Dublin Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople from Cork (city) Politicians from Cork (city) 20th-century British businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople