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Dick Spring
Richard Martin Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1982 to 1987, 1992 to November 1994, and December 1994 to 1997, Leader of the Labour Party from 1982 to 1997, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 to November 1994 and December 1994 to 1997, Minister for Energy from 1983 to 1987, and Minister for the Environment from 1982 to 1983. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry North from 1981 to 2002.
Before his political career, Spring was a successful sportsman who played for the Ireland national rugby union team and the Kerry GAA football and hurling teams.
Spring was born in Tralee, County Kerry in 1950, the son of Dan and Anna Spring (née Laide). He was educated at Cistercian College in Roscrea, County Tipperary, and at Trinity College Dublin, and qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns. He is a descendant of the Anglo-Irish Spring family that settled in County Kerry in the late 16th century.
Spring played Gaelic football and hurling for Kerry during the 1970s. He played his club football with the Kerins O'Rahilly's club in Tralee and hurling with Crotta O'Neill's; he also played underage hurling with Austin Stacks and won a minor county championship in 1967. His father Dan won two All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1939 and 1940.
He then won rugby union caps for Munster, and lined out for London Irish in the UK. He also was capped for Ireland three times during the 1979 Five Nations Championship, debuting against France on 20 January 1979 at Lansdowne Road, and receiving his last international cap on 17 February 1979 against England at Lansdowne Road.
Spring's political life began when he successfully contested the 1979 Kerry County Council election for the county electoral area of Tralee, succeeding his father Dan Spring TD on Kerry County Council that year. Spring senior had been a TD for Kerry North since 1943, mostly representing Labour, but he was a member of the National Labour Party from 1944 to 1950.
He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1981 general election for the constituency of Kerry North, again succeeding his father. The Labour Party formed a coalition Government with Fine Gael and Spring was appointed a junior minister on his first day as a TD.
When Michael O'Leary resigned as party leader after the February 1982 general election, Spring allowed his name to go forward in the leadership contest. He defeated Barry Desmond and Michael D. Higgins, but inherited the leadership of a deeply divided party. Spring was a strong opponent of anti-coalition politics and systematically removed Trotskyist activists from the party. Most notably he expelled the Militant Tendency in 1989 (which later became Socialist Party), including Joe Higgins and Clare Daly.
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Dick Spring
Richard Martin Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1982 to 1987, 1992 to November 1994, and December 1994 to 1997, Leader of the Labour Party from 1982 to 1997, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 to November 1994 and December 1994 to 1997, Minister for Energy from 1983 to 1987, and Minister for the Environment from 1982 to 1983. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry North from 1981 to 2002.
Before his political career, Spring was a successful sportsman who played for the Ireland national rugby union team and the Kerry GAA football and hurling teams.
Spring was born in Tralee, County Kerry in 1950, the son of Dan and Anna Spring (née Laide). He was educated at Cistercian College in Roscrea, County Tipperary, and at Trinity College Dublin, and qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns. He is a descendant of the Anglo-Irish Spring family that settled in County Kerry in the late 16th century.
Spring played Gaelic football and hurling for Kerry during the 1970s. He played his club football with the Kerins O'Rahilly's club in Tralee and hurling with Crotta O'Neill's; he also played underage hurling with Austin Stacks and won a minor county championship in 1967. His father Dan won two All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1939 and 1940.
He then won rugby union caps for Munster, and lined out for London Irish in the UK. He also was capped for Ireland three times during the 1979 Five Nations Championship, debuting against France on 20 January 1979 at Lansdowne Road, and receiving his last international cap on 17 February 1979 against England at Lansdowne Road.
Spring's political life began when he successfully contested the 1979 Kerry County Council election for the county electoral area of Tralee, succeeding his father Dan Spring TD on Kerry County Council that year. Spring senior had been a TD for Kerry North since 1943, mostly representing Labour, but he was a member of the National Labour Party from 1944 to 1950.
He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1981 general election for the constituency of Kerry North, again succeeding his father. The Labour Party formed a coalition Government with Fine Gael and Spring was appointed a junior minister on his first day as a TD.
When Michael O'Leary resigned as party leader after the February 1982 general election, Spring allowed his name to go forward in the leadership contest. He defeated Barry Desmond and Michael D. Higgins, but inherited the leadership of a deeply divided party. Spring was a strong opponent of anti-coalition politics and systematically removed Trotskyist activists from the party. Most notably he expelled the Militant Tendency in 1989 (which later became Socialist Party), including Joe Higgins and Clare Daly.