Jim Higgins (Irish politician)

Jim Higgins (born 4 May 1945 in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo) is an Irish politician who has served as a member of Seanad Éireann, Dáil Éireann and the European Parliament.

He was educated at St Jarlath's College, Tuam and at University College Galway. Higgins worked as a Community School teacher before becoming involved in local politics as a member of Mayo County Council in 1979. He first ran for Dáil Éireann in the 1981 general election, but was unsuccessful. However, he was one of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald's nominees to the 15th Seanad Éireann. He lost his Seanad seat in 1982 but was elected to the 17th Seanad by the Labour Panel in 1983, remaining in the upper house until 1987 as a member of the 17th Seanad. He was successful in the 1987 general election, winning a set in the 25th Dáil as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo East.

In 1994 the Rainbow Coalition came to power and Higgins was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance. The following year he became Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence, as well as Chief Whip of the government. He remained in that position until a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition took office after the 1997 general election. Like many of his Fine Gael colleagues at the 2002 general election, Higgins lost his seat in the Mayo constituency. However, he was elected to Seanad Éireann by the Labour Panel, becoming a member of the 22nd Seanad. In the 2004 European Parliament elections Higgins was elected to the European Parliament as a Fine Gael MEP for the North-West constituency.

References

*oireachtas-database |1=http://oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=1&HouseNum=22&MemberID=515&ConstID=206

External links

* [http://www.finegael.ie/Representatives/representatives.cfm?TD_Key=41 Jim Higgins's page on the Fine Gael website]
* [http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=4070 Jim Higgins's electoral history] (ElectionsIreland.org)

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