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Garret FitzGerald
Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 1926 – 19 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist, and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 and was twice Leader of the Opposition between 1977 and 1982; he was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1992 and was a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1965 to 1969.
He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first foreign minister of the Irish Free State. At the time of his death, FitzGerald was president of the Institute of International and European Affairs and a columnist for The Irish Times, and had made occasional appearances on television programmes.
Garret FitzGerald was born in Ballsbridge, Dublin, in 1926, son of Desmond FitzGerald and Mabel McConnell. His mother was involved in politics; it was through her that his father also became political. He had three elder brothers, Desmond (1911–1987), Pierce (1914–1986), and Fergus (1920–1983). His father was born and raised in London and was the Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth. He was the son of a labourer who had emigrated from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914, and fought during the 1916 Easter Rising. FitzGerald senior had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal. The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.
Although a senior figure on the pro-treaty side of Ireland's political divide, FitzGerald senior had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans, such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee, a minister in Éamon de Valera's government and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien. The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother, the former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent. However, later in life she converted to Catholicism. Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home.
FitzGerald was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in history, French and Spanish in 1946, later returning to complete a PhD in economics which he obtained in 1968; his doctoral thesis was published the following year, titled Planning in Ireland. He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD his future political rival, Charles Haughey, who also knew Joan O'Farrell (1923–1999), a Liverpool-born fellow student, whom FitzGerald married in 1947. Their children were John, Mary, and Mark.
Following his university education, in 1947, he started working with Aer Lingus, the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time, he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for British magazine The Economist, and was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the features editor[who?] in the Irish Times. He remained with Aer Lingus until 1958; the following year, after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish industry at Trinity College Dublin, he became a lecturer in economics at UCD.
FitzGerald qualified as a barrister, from the King's Inns of Ireland, and spoke French fluently.
FitzGerald was eager to enter politics. Despite his pro-Treaty roots, several members of Fianna Fáil, including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats, suggested that he should join that party. Ultimately, FitzGerald made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael, of which his father had been a founding member. He attached himself to the party's liberal wing, which rallied around the Just Society programme written by Declan Costello. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann for the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election, for the Dublin South-East constituency, the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in the parliamentary party, and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave. The difference in political outlook and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael Ardfheis in Cork, Cosgrave referred to the "mongrel foxes" who should be rooted out of the party,[citation needed] a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader.
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Garret FitzGerald
Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 1926 – 19 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist, and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 and was twice Leader of the Opposition between 1977 and 1982; he was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1992 and was a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1965 to 1969.
He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first foreign minister of the Irish Free State. At the time of his death, FitzGerald was president of the Institute of International and European Affairs and a columnist for The Irish Times, and had made occasional appearances on television programmes.
Garret FitzGerald was born in Ballsbridge, Dublin, in 1926, son of Desmond FitzGerald and Mabel McConnell. His mother was involved in politics; it was through her that his father also became political. He had three elder brothers, Desmond (1911–1987), Pierce (1914–1986), and Fergus (1920–1983). His father was born and raised in London and was the Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth. He was the son of a labourer who had emigrated from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914, and fought during the 1916 Easter Rising. FitzGerald senior had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal. The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.
Although a senior figure on the pro-treaty side of Ireland's political divide, FitzGerald senior had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans, such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee, a minister in Éamon de Valera's government and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien. The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother, the former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent. However, later in life she converted to Catholicism. Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home.
FitzGerald was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in history, French and Spanish in 1946, later returning to complete a PhD in economics which he obtained in 1968; his doctoral thesis was published the following year, titled Planning in Ireland. He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD his future political rival, Charles Haughey, who also knew Joan O'Farrell (1923–1999), a Liverpool-born fellow student, whom FitzGerald married in 1947. Their children were John, Mary, and Mark.
Following his university education, in 1947, he started working with Aer Lingus, the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time, he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for British magazine The Economist, and was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the features editor[who?] in the Irish Times. He remained with Aer Lingus until 1958; the following year, after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish industry at Trinity College Dublin, he became a lecturer in economics at UCD.
FitzGerald qualified as a barrister, from the King's Inns of Ireland, and spoke French fluently.
FitzGerald was eager to enter politics. Despite his pro-Treaty roots, several members of Fianna Fáil, including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats, suggested that he should join that party. Ultimately, FitzGerald made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael, of which his father had been a founding member. He attached himself to the party's liberal wing, which rallied around the Just Society programme written by Declan Costello. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann for the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election, for the Dublin South-East constituency, the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in the parliamentary party, and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave. The difference in political outlook and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael Ardfheis in Cork, Cosgrave referred to the "mongrel foxes" who should be rooted out of the party,[citation needed] a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader.
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