Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin (Irish: Breandán Ó Húilín; born 1956) is an Irish Labour Party politician. He was elected as a Labour Party TD for Wexford in 1987 and has held his seat ever since. He has previously served as Minister for Health (1993–1994) and Minister for the Environment (1994–1997). He is currently the Labour Party Spokesperson for Justice.
Named after former Labour Party leader Brendan Corish, Brendan Howlin was born in Wexford. He was educated locally at Wexford CBS and St. Patrick's Teacher Training College, Dublin. He worked as a primary school teacher before embarking on a political career in 1981 on Wexford Borough Council. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to be elected to Dáil Éireann in November 1982; however, he was nominated afterwards to serve in Seanad Éireann by Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. Howlin was successful on his second attempt when he was elected as a Labour Party TD, retaking the traditional Labour Party seat in the Wexford constituency in the 1987 general election.
Howlin was immediately appointed Labour Party Chief Whip, a position he held until 1993. That year he became Minister for Health in the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition government. After the fall of the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition in December 1994, he was appointed Minister for the Environment in the new "Rainbow Coalition" government between Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left.
In 1997 he was unsuccessful in his bid to succeed Dick Spring as leader of the Labour Party, being defeated by Ruairi Quinn. He became Deputy Leader of the party instead. In 2002, after Quinn's resignation as party leader after the relatively unsuccessful 2002 election campaign, he again stood for the party leadership. However, he was again unsuccessful in his bid, being defeated by Pat Rabbitte (formerly a leading figure in Democratic Left).
While having been publicly supportive of Rabbitte's leadership, he is perceived as being the leader of the wing of the party which is sceptical of Rabbitte's policy with regard to future coalition with Fianna Fáil. Rabbitte explicitly ruled out any future coalition with Fianna Fáil, instead forming a formal alliance with Fine Gael in the run-up to the 2007 general election (the so-called Mullingar Accord).
On 26 June, 2007, he was appointed the Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Speaker) of Dáil Éireann.
Political career
| Oireachtas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) |
Labour Party
Teachta Dála for Wexford 1987 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by John O'Connell |
Minister
for Health 1993–1994 |
Succeeded by Michael Woods |
| Preceded by Michael Smith |
Minister for the Environment 1994–1997 |
Succeeded by Noel Dempsey |
| Preceded by Séamus Pattison |
Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil
Éireann 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Oireachtas | ||
| Preceded by ? |
Deputy Leader of Irish
Labour Party 2007 |
Succeeded by Liz McManus |
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