John Fahey (23 January 1928 – 18 March 2019) 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. He was 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 over twenty five years. Fahey was born in Clonmel,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

in 1928. He was educated locally at the Christian Brothers School. Following his education he worked as a farmer, an auctioneer and an insurance broker. Fahey first entered politics in 1950 when he was elected to

Waterford County Council Waterford County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Phort Láirge) 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 t ...

. He held his seat on that authority until 1970, and later from 1974 to 1999. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil

(TD) for the Tipperary South constituency at the 1965 general election. It was his second attempt to get elected, having earlier contested the 1961 general election. From the 1977 general election onwards, he was elected for the

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

constituency. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries from 1970 to 1973. Like many other TDs, Fahey began to grow disillusioned with the leadership of Jack Lynch by the late 1970s. He and others were particularly concerned that

George Colley George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...

would succeed Lynch as leader of Fianna Fáil and

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of 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 legislature) and the o ...

. Fahey was instrumental in forming the so-called "gang of five" with

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...

, Mark Killilea, Tom McEllistrim and Seán Doherty. This group began to lobby the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on behalf of

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

, whom they regarded as a better choice for leader than Colley. Haughey was the eventual winner of the leadership contest and rewarded Fahey by appointing him Minister of State at the Department of Environment, a post he held from 1979 to 1981. He was not re-appointed in any future Haughey government but remained a Haughey loyalist. Fahey contested the

1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was the third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other m ...

for the Munster constituency but was not elected. He was annoyed at his running mate in the constituency, and subsequently voted against the proposed Fianna Fáil–

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

coalition; this action lost him the party whip. He re-applied for membership of the party in 1990 and was re-admitted. Fahey lost his seat at the 1992 general election. He served out his council term on Waterford City Council, and retired from politics in 1999. He died on 18 March 2019, aged 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahey, Jackie 1928 births 2019 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 18th Dáil Members of the 19th Dáil Members of the 20th Dáil Members of the 21st Dáil 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 Politicians from County Tipperary Local councillors in County Waterford Irish farmers Ministers of State of the 21st Dáil Parliamentary Secretaries of the 19th Dáil