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Michael O'Kennedy (21 February 1936 – 15 April 2022) was an Irish
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
politician who served in a range of cabinet positions, including Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Finance and Irish European Commissioner. 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 Tipperary North constituency and was also a member of
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 ...
.


Early life

O'Kennedy was born in
Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...
, County Tipperary, into a family that had strong links to
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
and the Old IRA. He was educated locally at St. Mary's National School before later attending St Flannan's College in
Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...
, County Clare. He briefly studied for the priesthood at
St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...
, where he was a contemporary of future
Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...
leader
John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...
. After securing first place in a university scholarship in 1953, O'Kennedy obtained an MA degree from
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 ...
. He taught in Switzerland for a while before resuming his legal studies; he was
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1961. Twelve years later, he was appointed Senior Counsel.


Political career


Beginnings

O'Kennedy joined
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
in 1957 and became an active party member. He contested the 1965 general election in Tipperary North; however, he narrowly failed to win a seat. He was elected to the 11th Seanad, where he became the party spokesperson on various issues, including finance and education. O'Kennedy contested the 1969 general election and was successful in securing a seat in
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 ...
. He remained on the backbenches until 1970 when the Arms Crisis resulted in a major reshuffle at cabinet and junior ministerial levels. O'Kennedy became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education. In December 1972, a cabinet reshuffle by
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 nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...
saw O'Kennedy join the cabinet as
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
. There was much speculation as to what portfolio he would take; however, the new year saw him become
Minister for Transport and Power The Minister for Transport () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Transport. He is also Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy. The current Minister for Transport is Darragh O'Brien Darrag ...
. His tenure was short-lived, for the 1973 general election saw a
Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...
Labour Party coalition government come to power. Immediately after Fianna Fáil's loss of power, O'Kennedy was appointed Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs. He retained the same brief in a 1975 front bench reshuffle. After this reshuffle, he revealed his future leadership aspirations as he became associated with a hardline policy document regarding Northern Ireland. The paper called for a complete and immediate withdrawal of the
British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
from Northern Ireland. This new policy opened up the old divisions in Fianna Fáil that had come to light during the Arms Crisis in 1970. It was also against the party's wishes and was at odds with party policy; however, O'Kennedy's new policy was welcomed by the hardline Republican element at the grassroots level within the party.


Cabinet minister and European commissioner

The 1977 general election saw Fianna Fáil return to government with a twenty-seat majority in the Dáil. O'Kennedy was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in Jack Lynch's new cabinet. In 1979, Lynch resigned as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequent leadership election was a contest between George Colley and
Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
. Colley was the favoured choice of the outgoing leadership and the majority of the cabinet, while Haughey had the backing of a large rump of backbench TDs who had become disillusioned with the party leadership. On the day before the crucial vote, O'Kennedy was the only cabinet minister to publicly endorse Haughey. Many believe that it was because of this support that Haughey was successful in becoming Taoiseach, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes. O'Kennedy's loyalty was rewarded when he was appointed Minister for Finance in the new government. O'Kennedy's tenure as Minister for Finance was short-lived, delivering a stringent budget, as he took the position of European commissioner in January 1981. Because of his new appointment in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, he also resigned from his Dáil seat. O'Kennedy took over as European Commissioner for Personnel, Administration and the Statistics Office and was disappointed not to be made vice-president in the
Thorn Commission The Thorn Commission was the European Commission that held office from 6 January 1981 until 5 January 1985. Its President of the European Commission, President was Gaston Thorn. Work It was the successor to the Jenkins Commission (EU), Jenki ...
. He was, however, made a delegate to the president. O'Kennedy's tenure in the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
was unhappy. He quickly grew bored of the mundane day-to-day work as a commissioner and missed the cut-and-thrust nature of Irish politics, which was going through a volatile period. A general election was called for February 1982, and O'Kennedy returned to contest his old seat. He was elected for Tipperary North once again and resigned as a European commissioner. O'Kennedy's return was seen as an attempt to assert his claim to the future leadership of Fianna Fáil, something that had been a contentious issue under Haughey and his failure to secure an overall majority in two elections. Fianna Fáil returned to power with the help of several Independent TDs, and O'Kennedy demanded a senior government position. His request was refused. Haughey offered him the post of
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
, but O'Kennedy declined. As a result, he was left out of the short-lived administration. The government fell in October that same year, and Fianna Fáil lost power at the subsequent general election. A period of instability followed within Fianna Fáil as several TDs attempted to oust Charles Haughey as party leader.
Desmond O'Malley Desmond Joseph O'Malley (2 February 1939 – 21 July 2021) was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1981 and 1989 to 1992, Progressive Democrats, Leader ...
was seen as the clear front-runner to succeed Haughey; however, O'Kennedy's name was also mentioned alongside other party stalwarts like Gerry Collins and Brian Lenihan. In the end, Haughey survived as party leader.


Return to cabinet

Following the 1987 general election, Haughey was again Taoiseach and O'Kennedy returned to the cabinet as Minister for Agriculture and Food. This may have seemed like a demotion for someone with the experience of O'Kennedy; however, his nearly five-year tenure received praise from farming circles. In November 1991, tensions arose within Fianna Fáil regarding the continued leadership of Haughey. Minister for Finance
Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...
directly challenged the party leader and Taoiseach; however, the challenge failed. O'Kennedy supported the incumbent leader throughout the heave and took over as Minister for Labour in the subsequent reshuffle. Once again, this was viewed as a demotion; however, O'Kennedy viewed his role as one of the most important in the cabinet, considering the high unemployment rate. In February 1992, Haughey stepped down as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, and Albert Reynolds won the subsequent leadership election by a large majority. The formation of his new cabinet caused widespread shock as O'Kennedy and seven of his cabinet colleagues were effectively sacked in favour of supporters of the new Taoiseach. This brought his cabinet career to an end.


Later years

O'Kennedy lost his seat at the 1992 general election, in what turned out to be a disaster for Fianna Fáil. He subsequently secured election to Seanad Éireann for the second time in his career. O'Kennedy was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1997 general election. He sought the Fianna Fáil nomination in the 1997 presidential election, but received only 21 votes out of a total of 112, as
Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...
became the party's nominee and eventual victor of the election. After the 2002 general election, O'Kennedy retired from national politics. He returned to work as a barrister and subsequently became a member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. O'Kennedy died on 15 April 2022, aged 86.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okennedy, Michael 1936 births 2022 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of University College Dublin Fianna Fáil senators Fianna Fáil TDs Irish European commissioners Members of the 11th Seanad Members of the 19th Dáil Members of the 20th Dáil Members of the 21st Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 20th Seanad Members of the 28th Dáil Ministers for agriculture of Ireland Ministers for finance of Ireland Ministers for foreign affairs of Ireland Ministers for transport of Ireland Parliamentary secretaries of the 19th Dáil People educated at St Flannan's College People from Nenagh Politicians from County Tipperary Alumni of King's Inns European commissioners (1981–1985) Administrative Panel senators Cultural and Educational Panel senators