Eileen Desmond

2024-12-12T11:36:38Z

86.42.148.113:

{{Short description|Irish politician (1932–2005)}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Eileen Desmond 1981 02.jpg
| caption = Desmond in 1981
| office = [[Minister for Health (Ireland)|Minister for Health]]
| taoiseach = [[Garret FitzGerald]]
| term_start = 30 June 1981
| term_end = 9 March 1982
| predecessor = [[Michael Woods (Irish politician)|Michael Woods]]
| successor = Michael Woods
| office1 = [[Minister for Social Protection|Minister for Social Welfare]]
| taoiseach1 = Garret FitzGerald
| term_start1 = 30 June 1981
| term_end1 = 9 March 1982
| predecessor1 = Michael Woods
| successor1 = Michael Woods
| office2 = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start2 = [[1981 Irish general election|June 1981]]
| term_end2 = [[1987 Irish general election|February 1987]]
| constituency2 = [[Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Cork South-Central]]
| term_start3 = [[1973 Irish general election|February 1973]]
| term_end3 = [[1981 Irish general election|June 1981]]
| term_start4 = [[1965 Cork Mid by-election|March 1965]]
| term_end4 = [[1969 Irish general election|June 1969]]
| constituency4 = [[Cork Mid (Dáil constituency)|Cork Mid]]
| office5 = [[Member of the European Parliament]]
| term_start5 = [[1979 European Parliament election in Ireland|1 July 1979]]
| term_end5 = 9 July 1981
| constituency5 = [[Munster (European Parliament constituency)|Munster]]
| office6 = [[Seanad Éireann|Senator]]
| term_start6 = 5 November 1969
| term_end6 = 18 February 1973
| constituency6 = [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]]
| birth_name = Eileen Christine Harrington
| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|12|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kinsale]], [[County Cork]], Ireland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|1|6|1932|12|29|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland
| nationality = [[Irish people|Irish]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Dan Desmond]]|1955|1964|end=d.}}
| children = 2
| alma_mater = [[University College Cork]]
|}}
'''Eileen Christine Desmond''' ({{nee|Harrington}}; 29 December 1932 – 6 January 2005) was an Irish [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] politician who served as [[Minister for Health (Ireland)|Minister for Health]] and [[Minister for Social Protection|Minister for Social Welfare]] from 1981 to 1982. She was a [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) from 1965 to 1969 and 1973 to 1987. She also served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for the [[Munster (European Parliament constituency)|Munster]] constituency from 1979 to 1981 and as a [[Seanad Éireann|Senator]] for the [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]] from 1969 to 1973.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Eileen-Desmond.D.1965-03-10/|title=Eileen Desmond|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=30 December 2011|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024205449/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Eileen-Desmond.D.1965-03-10/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
She was born in [[Kinsale]], [[County Cork]], her father was a postman and part-time fisherman, who went blind when she was aged eleven,<ref name=dib/> her mother was the local seamstress. She was educated locally at the Convent of Mercy in Kinsale, where she was one of only two girls in her class to sit the [[Leaving Certificate (Ireland)|Leaving Certificate]] examination.<ref name=dib>{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/desmond-eileen-nee-harrington-a9386|title=Desmond, Eileen|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]|last=Maume|first=Patrick|access-date=9 January 2023}}</ref> Before entering politics she worked as a civil servant with the [[Minister for Posts and Telegraphs|Department of Posts and Telegraphs]].<ref name=dib/> She married [[Dan Desmond]] in 1955, a Labour TD for Cork from 1948 to 1964, and they had two daughters.<ref name=dib/>

==Politics==
Desmond was elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] in [[1965 Cork Mid by-election|a by-election on 10 March 1965]], caused by the death of her husband Dan Desmond.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2746|title=Eileen Desmond|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=30 December 2011|archive-date=18 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018152857/http://electionsireland.org//candidate.cfm?ID=2746|url-status=live}}</ref> Her victory in the [[Cork Mid (Dáil constituency)|Cork Mid]] constituency led [[Taoiseach]] [[Seán Lemass]] to dissolve the [[17th Dáil]], before she could assume her seat, and call [[1965 Irish general election|a general election]].<ref name=dib/> She was elected for the second time in a year, but lost her seat at the [[1969 Irish general election|1969 general election]]. However, Desmond was then elected to the [[12th Seanad]] on the [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]], where she served until her re-election to the [[20th Dáil]] following the [[1973 Irish general election|1973 general election]]. She supported the unsuccessful Contraceptives Bill in 1974.<ref name=dib/>

She was elected to the European Parliament at the [[1979 European Parliament election in Ireland|1979 European Parliament election]] for the [[Munster (European Parliament constituency)|Munster]] constituency. However, her time in Europe was short-lived, as she returned to domestic politics when she was offered a position as Minister and the chance to impact national legislation. At the [[1981 Irish general election|1981 general election]] she switched her constituency to [[Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Cork South-Central]]. A [[Fine Gael]]–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] coalition came to power and Desmond was appointed Minister for Health and for Social Welfare.

Desmond was the third [[List of female cabinet ministers of the Republic of Ireland|woman to be appointed to cabinet]] since the foundation of the state in 1922, the first in a [[Fine Gael]]-[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] cabinet, and the first female officeholder of the health and social welfare ministries. Desmond was the only woman in that short-lived coalition Cabinet. She created the National Combat Poverty Agency, which addressed inequality. She achieved a 25% increase in social welfare allowance, a level never achieved before. However, the budget was defeated on 27 January 1982, leading to the dissolution of the [[22nd Dáil]], so the increases never came into effect.<ref name=dib/>

Desmond left politics in 1987 for health reasons but stood unsuccessfully in the [[1989 European Parliament election in Ireland|1989 European Parliament election]] after her health improved. She died in 2005.<ref name=dib/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{MEP|872|Eileen Desmond}}
*{{cite book|last1=McNamara|first1=Maedhbh|title=A Women's Place is in the Cabinet: Women Ministers in Irish Government 1919-2019|location=Drogheda (Ireland)|publisher=Sea Dog Books|year=2020|isbn=978-1-913275-06-8}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Michael Woods (Irish politician)|Michael Woods]]|rows=2}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Minister for Health (Ireland)|Minister for Health]]
|years = 1981–1982}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Michael Woods (Irish politician)|Michael Woods]]|rows=2}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Minister for Social Protection|Minister for Social Welfare]]
|years = 1981–1982}}
{{s-end}}
{{Cork Mid (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Members of the European Parliament for Ireland (1979–1984)}}
{{Members of the 12th Seanad}}
{{17th Government of Ireland}}
{{Ministers for Health of Ireland}}
{{Ministers for Social Affairs of Ireland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Eileen}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour Party (Ireland) MEPs]]
[[Category:Labour Party (Ireland) TDs]]
[[Category:Labour Party (Ireland) senators]]
[[Category:MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1979–1984]]
[[Category:Members of the 12th Seanad]]
[[Category:20th-century women members of Seanad Éireann]]
[[Category:Members of the 17th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 18th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 20th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 21st Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 22nd Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 23rd Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 24th Dáil]]
[[Category:20th-century women Teachtaí Dála]]
[[Category:Ministers for health of Ireland]]
[[Category:Ministers for social affairs of Ireland]]
[[Category:People from Kinsale]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Cork]]
[[Category:Spouses of Irish politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Industrial and Commercial Panel senators]]

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Eileen Desmond