Rory O'Hanlon (born 7 February 1934) is an Irish former

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 as

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...

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 ...

from 2002 to 2007, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of

from 1997 to 2002, Minister for the Environment from 1991 to 1992,

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 1987 to 1991 and Minister of State for Social Welfare Claims in 1982. 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 Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 1977 to 2011.

Early life

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1934, O'Hanlon was brought up in a family that had a strong association with the republican tradition. His father, Michael, who studied medicine was a member of the Fourth Northern Division of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

during the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

and took the Republican side during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

. As is made clear during a personal interview with

Tim Pat Coogan Timothy Patrick "Tim Pat" Coogan (born 22 April 1935) is an Irish journalist, writer and broadcaster. He served as editor of ''The Irish Press'' newspaper from 1968 to 1987. He has been best known for such books as ''The IRA'', ''Ireland Since t ...

for his biography of Michael Collins, O'Hanlon confirmed his father's military service on Bloody Sunday in Dublin where he assisted members of Michael Collins' Squad in the killing of known British Agents in the Cairo Gang, who were placing a stranglehold on Collins' Intelligence War. His father was a close friend of

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969), Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the I ...

and was imprisoned in the Old Gaol in Dundalk from where members of the Fourth Northern Division escaped during the famous Hole-In-The-Wall breakout. O'Hanlon was educated at Mullaghbawn National School, before later attending St. Mary's College,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

in Dublin. He subsequently studied medicine 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 qualified as a doctor. In 1965, he was appointed to

Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The population was 5,745 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle buil ...

as the local general practitioner and was the medical representative on the North Eastern Health Board from its inception in 1970 until 1987.

Political career

Beginnings

O'Hanlon entered his first electoral contest when he was the

candidate in the 1973 Monaghan by-election caused by the election of Erskine Childers to the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

. He was unsuccessful on this occasion but was eventually elected at the 1977 general election for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency. O'Hanlon was one of a handful of new Fianna Fáil deputies who were elected in that landslide victory for the party and, as a new TD, he remained on the backbenches. Two years later he became a member of

Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council () is the local authority of County Monaghan, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning ...

, serving on that authority until 1987. In 1979,

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, ...

suddenly resigned as

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 ...

and leader of Fianna Fáil. The subsequent leadership election resulted in a straight contest between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The latter had the backing of the majority of the existing cabinet, however, a backbench revolt saw Haughey become Taoiseach. O'Hanlon had supported Colley and was thus overlooked for appointment to the new ministerial and junior ministerial positions. Despite this, he did become a member of the powerful Public Accounts Committee in the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

. When Fianna Fáil returned to power after a short-lived

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 government in 1982, O'Hanlon was once again overlooked for ministerial promotion. An extensive cabinet reshuffle towards the end of the year saw O'Hanlon become Minister of State for Social Welfare Payments. His tenure was short-lived as the government fell a few weeks later and Fianna Fáil were out of power.

Government minister

In early 1983, Charles Haughey announced a new

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

and O'Hanlon was promoted to the position of spokesperson on Health and Social Welfare. Following the 1987 general election, Fianna Fáil were back in power, albeit with a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

, and O'Hanlon became

. Immediately after taking office, he was confronted with several controversial issues, including the resolution of a radiographers' dispute and the formation of an

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

awareness campaign. While Fianna Fáil campaigned on a platform of not introducing any public spending cuts, the party committed a complete

u-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the U, letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as ...

once in government. The savage cuts about healthcare earned O'Hanlon the nickname "Dr. Death". Despite earning this reputation, O'Hanlon also introduced a law to curb smoking in public places. O'Hanlon's handling of the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

meant that he was one of the names tipped for promotion as a result of

Ray MacSharry Ray MacSharry (born 29 April 1938) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from March 1982 to December 1982, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development from 1989 to 1993, Minister for Finance from Ma ...

's departure as Minister for Finance. In the end, he was retained as Minister for Health and was disappointed not to be given a new portfolio following the 1989 general election. In 1991, O'Hanlon became Minister for the Environment. This was following

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 ...

' failed leadership challenge against Charles Haughey. He succeeded

Pádraig Flynn Pádraig Flynn (born 9 May 1939) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Social Affairs from 1993 to 1999, Minister for Industry and Commerce and Minister for Justice from 1992 to 1993, Minister for ...

who had been part of the challenge to Haughey. When Reynolds eventually came to power in 1992, O'Hanlon was one of several high-profile members of the cabinet who lost their ministerial positions.

Post-cabinet career

In 1995, O'Hanlon became chair of the Fianna Fáil

parliamentary party A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

before being elected Leas-Cheann Comhairle (deputy chair) of

in 1997. Following the 2002 general election, O'Hanlon became

of Dáil Éireann. In this position, he was required to remain neutral and, as such, he was no longer classed as a representative of any political party. He was an active chair of the Dáil; however, on occasion, he was criticised, most notably by Labour's

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...

, for allegedly stifling debate and being overly protective of the government. Following the 2007 general election, he was succeeded as Ceann Comhairle by John O'Donoghue. He was the vice-chair of the Joint

Committee on Foreign Affairs. He retired from politics at the 2011 general election.

Personal life

Two of O'Hanlon's children have served as local politicians in Cavan–Monaghan, a son Shane is a former member of Monaghan County Council and a daughter Fiona O'Hea served one term on

Cootehill Cootehill (; ) is a market town and townland in County Cavan, Ireland. Cootehill was formerly part of the neighbouring townland of Munnilly. Both townlands lie within the barony of Tullygarvey. Cootehill is 20 km north-east of Cavan tow ...

Town Council. He is also the father of actor and comedian

Ardal O'Hanlon Ardal O'Hanlon (; born 8 October 1965) is an Irish comedian, actor, and author. He played Father Dougal McGuire in ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), George Sunday/Thermoman in ''My Hero (British TV series), My Hero'' (2000–2006), and DI Jack Moone ...

. The

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 ...

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (; born 18 September 1953) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency), Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 1997 to 2020. Ó Caoláin's victory ...

is also a relation of O'Hanlon, as was the late

Paddy O'Hanlon Patrick Michael O'Hanlon (8 May 1944 – 7 April 2009) was an Irish barrister and nationalist politician. Born in Drogheda County Louth, but resident in Mullaghbawn, South Armagh since childhood, partly due to an exclusion order, O'Hanlon stud ...

a founder-member of the

SDLP 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 (MPs ...

. Ciarán Mullooly of

Independent Ireland Independent Ireland is a right-wing political party in Ireland. It was formed on 8 November 2023 by former independent TDs Michael Collins and Richard O'Donoghue. Their elected representation was subsequently boosted by the joining of TD M ...

is a distant relative through family lineage in Australia and Louth.

References