William O'Brien (6 March 1918 – 5 November 1994) was 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 ...

politician from

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from 1969 to 1977, and then a TD for Limerick West from 1977 to 1987. Before entering politics, O'Brien was an employee of

CIÉ , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the Republic of Ireland and jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Hold ...

, the state-run Irish transport company. He stood unsuccessfully as a Fine Gael candidate for

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 ...

in the Limerick West constituency at the

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and 1973 general elections before winning the seat at the 1977 general election. After his 1969 defeat, he was elected to the 12th Seanad Éireann on the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

, which returned him in 1973 to the

13th Seanad The 13th Seanad was in office from 1973 to 1977. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1973 general election to the 20th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 14th Se ...

. Once in the Dáil, O'Brien was re-elected at the 1981 general election and at both the February 1982 and November 1982 general elections. He did not contest the 1987 general election, and retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, William 1918 births 1994 deaths Fine Gael TDs Members of the 12th Seanad Members of the 13th Seanad Members of the 21st Dáil Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Politicians from County Limerick Members of Limerick County Council Fine Gael senators Labour Panel senators