- Kit Ahern
Catherine Ita (Kit) Ahern (née Liston) (13 January 1915 – 27 December 2007) was an Irish
Fianna Fáil politician fromBallybunion inCounty Kerry .cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/politics/former-kerry-td-kit-ahern-dies-1254129.html |title=Former Kerry TD Kit Ahern dies |author=Irish Independent |work= |date=27 December 2007 |accessdate=2008-01-02]She was born in
Athea ,County Limerick , the eldest of eight children. She was educated locally and at the College of Art inDublin , and went on to work as a teacher at Coláiste Mhuire inAbbeyfeale , County Limerick. Ahern became involved with the Irish Countrywomen's Association (ICA), becoming the organisation's president, and she also served on the board ofBord Failte . [cite news |url= |title=Correspondence between Ahern and Seán Lemass in relation to her appointment to the Seanad |author= |work=Department of the Taoiseach: Women in 20th-Century Ireland |publisher=National Archives of Ireland |date= |accessdate=2008-01-02]Political career
Ahern's political role came in 1964 when she was nominated to
Seanad Éireann by the thenTaoiseach ,Seán Lemass ,cite web |url=http://oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=21&MemberID=1119&ConstID=111 |title=Mrs. Catherine Ita (Kit) Ahern |author= |work=Oireachtas Members Database |date= |accessdate=2008-01-02] to fill a vacancy caused the death of SenatorPádraig Ó Siochfhradha . [cite news |url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0058/S.0058.196412020007.html |title=Seanad Éireann debates, Volume 58, 02 December 1964: Private Business: Nomination of Senator |author= |work= |date= |accessdate=2008-01-02]Ahern contested the Dáil elections of 1965, 1969 and 1973, but was unsuccessful on all three occasions. However, she retained her Seanad seat, initially as a Taoiseach's nominee, and in 1969 and 1973 she was elected on the
Cultural and Educational Panel . After her re-election in 1973, she was nominated by Fianna Fáil senator Brian Lenihan for the post ofLeas-Chathaoirleach of the13th Seanad . The post had traditionally been held by a member of an opposition party, but the incomingNational Coalition government ofFine Gael and Labour decided that it wanted a Labour deputy to Fine Gael CathaoirleachJames Dooge . Labour'sEvelyn Owens was elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach, but Ahern won the support not just of her Fianna Fáil colleagues but also ofMary Robinson , senator [cite news |url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0075/S.0075.197306200004.html |title=Seanad Éireann debates, Volume 75, 20 June 1973: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach |author= |work= |date= |accessdate=2008-01-02] then an independent and laterPresident of Ireland .She was also a member of
Kerry County Council , to which she was first elected in 1967, and from 1977 to 1978 she was the Councils' first woman Cathaoirleach (chairperson).cite news |url=http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/Irish%20bios/TDs_2b.htm |title=Former Women TDs First Elected 1970-97 |author= |publisher=Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics |date= |accessdate=2008-01-02]Dáil success came with Fianna Fáil's landslide victory at the 1977 general election, when she was elected as a
Teachta Dála for Kerry North. It was also the first time that two Fianna Fáil TDs had been elected in the Kerry North constituency, the other deputy beingTom McEllistrim, Jnr . Ahern only served one term as inDáil Éireann , as she lost her seat in the 1981 general election and retired from national politics. After retirement, she joined theProgressive Democrats in 1985.Ahern was a lifelong promoter of the
Irish language and the aunt of the famous KerryGaelic football er,Eoin Liston . She was also President of the Kerry Historical & Archaeological Society.References
External links
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