John James Boland (30 November 1944 – 14 August 2000) was an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

politician who served as

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from January 1987 to March 1987, Minister for the Environment from 1986 to 1987, Minister for the Public Service from 1982 to 1986 and

Minister for Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 1981 to 1982. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) from 1977 to 1989. He also served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

from 1969 to 1977.

Biography

Boland was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1944 in

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is a middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 ce ...

, Dublin, the eldest of two sons and one daughter of Charles Boland and his wife Kathleen Boland (née Whitty), both of whom were civil servants. He was educated at

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon ...

school and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD), where he received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree. While in UCD, he served as editor of the student publication, Awake. He first held political office in 1967, when he was elected to

Dublin County Council Dublin County Council () was a local authority for the administrative county of County Dublin in Ireland. History The county council was established on 1 April 1899 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 for the administrative count ...

at age 23. He served on that authority until 1981. In 1971, he became the council's youngest-ever chairperson at age 26. While a councillor, he was associated with several controversial planning decisions. In 1974, he married Catherine Kennedy; they had one son and one daughter. Boland first ran for the

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

at the 1969 general election, but was unsuccessful. He was elected later that year to the

12th Seanad The 12th Seanad was in office from 1969 to 1973. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1969 general election to the 19th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 13th Sea ...

on the

, becoming the youngest-ever Senator at the time. He was re-elected to the Seanad in 1973. Boland was elected to Dáil on his third attempt at the 1977 general election as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin County North constituency. He retained his seat at each subsequent election until losing it in the 1989 election. On becoming Fine Gael leader,

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist, and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 an ...

appointed Boland to the Opposition front bench as spokesperson on Health; he later served as spokesperson on the Environment. In 1981, Fine Gael formed a government with the Labour Party, with Boland becoming

. In this capacity, he achieved the landmark abolition of

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

in schools. Boland later served in a range of portfolios in

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

's second government. As Minister for the Public Service, Boland introduced several significant reforms including merit-based promotion (instead of promotions being solely seniority-based as before) and open competitions for the most senior civil service jobs. Boland changed the law so that civil servants could no longer refuse to provide their names, ensuring greater transparency and accountability. As Minister for the Public Service, he appointed Ireland's first Ombudsman, Michael Mills. Boland subsequently served as Minister for the Environment. He led the procurement, on behalf of the State, of Malahide Castle, Ardgillan Demesne, Newbridge House and Farm, Skerries Mills and Red Island, Skerries. He also established the first National Parks Strategy. After politics, Boland qualified as a barrister and practised on the Dublin and eastern circuits. He also wrote a political column for the Sunday Business Post. After a long illness with cancer, Boland died on 14 August 2000. Many people paid tribute upon his death, including former Taoisigh FitzGerald and

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (18 May 1947 – 6 February 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001. He held cabinet positions between 1981‍ and 1987, including twice ...

. Fitzgerald stated that Boland had done more than any Minister in the history of the State to reform the public service, while Bruton remarked that Boland was "one of the most courageous, imaginative and innovative politicians" he had known.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, John 1944 births 2000 deaths Fine Gael TDs Members of the 12th Seanad Members of the 13th Seanad Members of the 21st Dáil Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Ministers for health of Ireland Politicians from County Dublin Ministers for education of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin Ministers for the environment of Ireland Fine Gael senators People educated at Synge Street CBS Labour Panel senators