Alan Dukes (Irish: Aerrothlú de Diúc; born April 20, 1945) is an Irish politician, a former leader of the Fine Gael political party and former Teachta Dála (TD) for Kildare South. He holds the distinction of being one of only five TDs to be appointed Minister on their first day in the Dáil. He lost his seat in the 2002 Irish general election. He is now Director General of the Institute of European Affairs. is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ) (approximate English translation: Family or Tribe of the Irish) and officially, Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland, presently forming the largest opposition party in the Dail (Irish Parliament), and claims a membership... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... A Teachta Dála (Irish for Dáil Deputy, pronounced chock-ta dawla) is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Irish Oireachtas or National Parliament. ... Kildare South is a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which elects three Teachtaí Dála (TDs) to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). ... This is an incomplete list of public-representative office-holders, elected and appointed, past and present, in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ... The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday 17 May 2002, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. ... Logo of the Institute of European Affairs The Institute of European Affairs website is a policy research think-tank and forum based in Dublin (with a branch in Brussels). ...

Early life

Alan Dukes was born in south Dublin in 1945. His father was a civil servant originally from Kerry, while his mother was from near Ballina, Co. Mayo. Alan was educated by the Christian Brothers at Colaiste Mhuire, Parnell Square and was offered a number of scholarships for third level on graduation, including one for the Irish language. His interest in the Irish language continues to this day, and he regularly appears on Irish language television programmes. The Spire at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Kerry may refer to: In American politics: Alexandra Kerry, the elder daughter of 2004 US Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry Cameron Kerry, the younger brother and political confidant of John F. Kerry John Kerry, a United States Senator from Massachusetts and the former 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate Kerry Healey, Lieutenant... Ballina may refer to: Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland Ballina, County Tipperary, Ireland Ballina, New South Wales, Australia Electoral district of Ballina is an electoral district in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, based around the area. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

On leaving school, Alan attended University College Dublin where he captained the Fencing Team to its first ever Intervarsity title. University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ... // University College Dublin Fencing Club was founded in 1954 and it would seem that at that time the only other clubs in existence in UCD at the time were the Big Four: Gaelic Games, Soccer, Rugby and Athletics. ...

Career before politics

In 1969 he became an economist with the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in Dublin. After Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, he moved to Brussels where he was part of the IFA's delegation. In this role he was influential in framing Ireland's contribution to the Common Agriculture Policy. The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... Nickname: Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: , Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989 Government  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area  - Region 162 km²  (62. ... The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. ...

He moved on from this IFA position to become chief of staff to Ireland's EEC commissioner Dick Burke, a former Fine Gael politician. Richard (Dick) Burke (born March 28, 1932) was a senior Irish Fine Gael politician and a European Commissioner. ... Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ) (approximate English translation: Family or Tribe of the Irish) and officially, Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland, presently forming the largest opposition party in the Dail (Irish Parliament), and claims a membership...

Early political career

In 1979 Dukes stood as a Fine Gael candidate in the European elections in the Munster constituency. He was on course to be elected thanks to strong farming support until the entry of farming leader T.J. Maher as an independent candidate. Maher subsequently topped the poll. Statistics Population ( ) Munster was a European parliament constituency in the Republic of Ireland between 1979 and 2004 based on the historic province of the same name. ...

He stood again for Fine Gael in the 1981 general election in the expanded constituency of Kildare where he won a seat and was elected to Dáil Éireann. On his first day in the Dáil he was appointed Minister for Agriculture by the new Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, becoming one of only five TD's so appointed. He held this seat for 21 years. The Irish general election of 1981 was held on June 11, 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on May 21. ... County Kildare Kildare is a former constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. ... This article is about the current Irish body. ... The Minister for Agriculture and Food is the senior minister at the Department of Agriculture and Food (Irish:An Roinn Talmhaíochta agus Bia) in the Irish Government. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: or ) — plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach[1], is the head of government of Ireland or prime minister. ... Garret FitzGerald (Irish: ; born February 9, 1926) was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, serving two terms in office; July 1981 to February 1982, and December 1982 to March 1987. ...

This minority Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government collapsed in February 1982 over controversial budget reforms, but returned to power with a working majority in December of that year. Dukes was again called into the cabinet becoming Minister for Finance less than two years into his Dáil career. The Minister for Finance is the senior minister at the Department of Finance (An Roinn Airgeadais) in the Irish Government. ...

He faced a difficult task as Finance Minister at this time. Ireland was heavily in debt while unemployment and emigration were high. Many of Fine Gael's ambitious plans had to be deferred while the Fine Gael/Labour coalition disagreed on how to solve the economic crisis. The challenge of addressing the national finances was made difficult by electoral arithmetic and a lack of support from the opposition Fianna Fáil party lead by Charles Haughey. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Dukes remained in the Department of Finance until the withdrawal of the Labour Party members from the government in 1986. As part of the subsequent reshuffle, he was appointed Minister for Justice. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the senior minister at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the Irish Government. ...

Leadership of Fine Gael

Fine Gael failed to win re-election in the 1987 general election, and lost 20 of their 70 seats, most to the new Progressive Democrats party. Outgoing Taoiseach and leader Garret FitzGerald stepped down and Dukes was elected leader of Fine Gael. He also became Leader of the Opposition. The Irish general election of 1987 was held on February 17, 1987, four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on January 20. ... The Progressive Democrats (Irish An Páirtí Daonlathach, lit. ... The Leader of the Opposition (Ir Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, at least in theory, leads the Parliamentary Opposition bloc in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. ...

This was a difficult time for the country. Haughey's Fianna Fáil had fought the election on promises to increase spending and government services, and by attacking the cutbacks favoured by Fine Gael. The campaign produced the famous FF slogan that cuts in health spending affect the "old, the sick and the handicapped". However on taking office, the new Taoiseach and his Finance Minister Ray MacSharry immediately drew up a drastic set of cutbacks including a spate of ward and hospital closures. This presented a political opportunity for the opposition to attack the government. Raymond (Ray) MacSharry (Irish: ; born April 29, 1938) is a former Irish politician. ...

However addressing a meeting of the Tallaght Chamber of Commerce, Dukes announced that "When the Government is moving in the right direction, I will not oppose the central thrust of its policy. If it is going in the right direction, I do not believe that it should be deviated from its course, or tripped up on macro-economic issues". This bold step became known as the Tallaght Strategy, and represented a major departure in Irish politics whereby Fine Gael would vote with the minority Fianna Fáil Government if it adopted Fine Gael's economic policies for revitalising the economy. In Irish politics, the Tallaght Strategy was a policy followed by the blueshirts Fine Gael political party starting in 1987. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Irish: ), commonly referred to as Fianna Fáil (IPA ; traditionally translated by the party into English as Soldiers of Destiny, though the actual meaning is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland[1]), is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ...

The consequences of this statement were huge. The Haughey government was able to take severe corrective steps to restructure the economy and lay the foundations for the economic boom of the nineties. However, at a snap election in 1989 Dukes did not receive electoral credit for his statesmanlike approach, and the party only made minor gains, reclaiming 5 of the 20 lost seats. The outcome was the first ever coalition government for Fianna Fáil, whose junior partner were the Progressive Democrats lead by former FF TD Desmond O'Malley.

1990 presidential election and loss of the leadership

Dukes received little credit for the Tallaght Strategy, and the party's failure to make significant gains in 1989 left some Fine Gael TDs with a desire for a change at the top. Their opportunity came in the wake of the historic 1990 presidential election. Fine Gael chose TD Austin Currie as their candidate. He had been a leading member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and had been a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) before moving south. In the Irish presidential election in 1990 the Irish Labour Party let it be known that it would for the first time run a candidate. ... Austin Currie (born 11 October 1939) is a former Irish politician, being elected to the parliaments of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. ... The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ...

Initially, Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan had been favourite to win, however after a number of controversies arising from the brief FF administration of 1981-82, and Lenihan's dismissal as Minister for Defence mid-way through the campaign, the Labour party's Mary Robinson emerged victorious. To many in Fine Gael, the humiliation of finishing third was too much to bear and a heave was launched against Dukes. He was subsequently replaced as party leader by John Bruton. Brian Lenihan (17 November 1930 - 1 November 1995) was a Irish Fianna Fáil politician. ... The Minister for Defence is in charge of the Department of Defence in the Republic of Ireland. ... Mary Robinson (Irish name Máire Mhic Róibín; born 21 May 1944) was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. ... John Gerard Bruton (Irish: ; born 18 May 1947) was the ninth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Rainbow Coalition

In September 1992 the new leader, John Bruton, brought him back to the front bench. In February 1994 he became involved in a failed attempt to oust Bruton as leader and subsequently Dukes resigned from the front bench. In December 1994 Bruton became Taoiseach and Dukes failed to secure a ministerial position despite being one of the most high profile and experienced members of Fine Gael. The Taoiseach (IPA: or ) — plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach[1], is the head of government of Ireland or prime minister. ...

Two years later in December 1996 Dukes returned as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications following the resignation of Michael Lowry. In 1997, Dukes topped the poll in the new constituency of Kildare South, however Fine Gael lost power and Dukes became Chairman of the Irish Council of the European Movement. In this position he was very involved in advising many of the Eastern European countries who were then applying to join the European Union. Michael Lowry is a Republic of Ireland politician. ...

In 2001 he backed Michael Noonan in his bid to become leader of Fine Gael. Noonan was successful. Michael Noonan (Irish: ; born 21 May 1943) is an Irish politician and was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of Fine Gael from February 2001 to June 2002. ...

Career post-politics

After 21 years, Dukes lost his Dáil seat in the general election of 2002. This contest saw many high profile casualties for Fine Gael, including Deputy Leader Jim Mitchell, former Deputy Leader Nora Owen and others. Many local commentators felt that the loss was down to a lack of attention to local issues, as Dukes was highly involved in European projects and had always enjoyed a national profile. The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday 17 May 2002, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. ... Jim Mitchell (19 October 1946 - 2 December 2002) was a senior Irish politician who served in the cabinets of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (1981-82; 1982-87). ... Nora Owen (born June 1945), was a senior Irish politician. ...

He retired from politics in 2002, and was subsequently appointed Director General of the Institute of European Affairs. He is still active in Fine Gael and is currently the party's national Vice-President.

Personal life

Alan has lived in Kildare Town since first being elected to represent the Kildare constituency in 1981. His wife Fionnuala is a local politician and has been a member of Kildare County Council since 1999. She served as the county's mayor in 2006-7, becoming only the second woman to hold the position in the body's hundred year history. They have two daughters, neither of whom are politically active.

Political career