Joe Walsh (Irish politician)

Joe Walsh ( _ga. Seosamh Breathnach; born 1 May 1943) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was formerly a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South West and was first elected as a TD in the 1977 general election. He lost his seat in 1981 but regained it again in 1982 and served as a TD until retiring at the 2007 general election. He has served as Minister for Agriculture and Food on two occasions (1992–1994 and 1997–2004).

Early life

Walsh was born in May 1943 in Ballineen, County Cork. He was educated at St Finbarr's College, Cork and University College Cork, where he qualified with a degree in Dairy Science in 1970. During his time in university he became involved in politics, establishing the first Fianna Fáil cumann in the university. Walsh began his career as a researcher in the National Dairy Research Centre at Moorepark, near Fermoy, before becoming Managing Director of Strand Dairies in Clonakilty, County Cork.

Political career

He began his political career when he was elected a member of Cork County Council in 1974, remaining on the council until the 1991 local elections.

He was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first, attempt when he was returned as a Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South-West at the 1977 general election. Walsh lost his seat at the 1981 general election, but secured election on the Cultural and Educational Panel to the 15th Seanad Éireann. He was re-elected to the Dáil at the February 1982 general election and retained his seat at every subsequent election until his retirement in 2007.

In the 1980s, Walsh was one of the "Gang of 22" who opposed Charles Haughey's leadership of Fianna Fáil. In spite of this he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food when Haughey returned as Taoiseach after the 1987 general election. In 1989 he was a key figure in the negotiations which lead to the formation of the historic Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition government. He remained as Minister of State until 1992 when Albert Reynolds became Taoiseach. Walsh was rewarded for his loyalty by being appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Agriculture & Food. He remained in that position until December 1994. In 1997 Fianna Fáil returned to power and Walsh was again appointed Minister for Agriculture & Food in Bertie Ahern's government. Walsh's skill as a Minister was put to the test in 2001 when Ireland was confronted with the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. His determination to prevent a full-scale outbreak saw many events being cancelled and travel curtailed. As a result the foot-and-mouth crisis passed off without major incident much to the effort of Minister Walsh.

Walsh has received a number of prestigious awards including the French Legion d'Honneur and the Spanish Grand Cross of the Agricultural Order of Merit. On 13 August 2004 Walsh announced that he would retire from the Cabinet after spending 14 years of his career at the Department of Agriculture. Bertie Ahern was due to announce his new line-up in September 2004 and speculation had been mounting that Walsh was going to be dropped from the government in any case. He was also said to be in the running for the position of Irish European Commissioner, however, that post went to the then Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy.

External links

* [http://www.joewalsh.ie/ Official website]
* [http://www.fiannafail.ie/person.php4?show=TD&pid=13&bid=13 Joe Walsh's page on the Fianna Fáil website]
* [http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=3106 Joe Walsh's electoral history] (ElectionsIreland.org)

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