Alan Dukes
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Alan Martin Dukes (born April 1945) is an Irish former
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 Transport, Energy and Communication from 1996 to 1997,
leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
and leader of Fine Gael from 1987 to 1990,
Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
from 1986 to 1987, Minister for Finance from 1982 to 1986 and Minister for Agriculture 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 1981 to 2002. He held several senior government positions and is one of the few TDs to be appointed a minister on their first day in the Dáil. He lost his seat in the 2002 general election. He was subsequently appointed Director General of the
Institute of International and European Affairs The Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA; ) is an Irish policy think tank focusing on European and international policy trends based in Dublin, Ireland. It is known for its seminars and speaking events which attract notable int ...
, and chairman of Anglo Irish Bank.


Early life

Dukes was born in Drimnagh,
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 April 1945. His father, James F. Dukes, was originally from
Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...
,
County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
, and was a senior civil servant, the founding chairman and chief executive of the Higher Education Authority, while his mother was from near
Ballina, County Mayo Ballina ( ; ) is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg Ra ...
. The Dukes family originally came from the north of England. His grandfather had served with the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and settled in Cork and then Kerry afterwards where he worked with the Post Office creating Ireland's telephone network. He also developed a keen interest in the
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
. He was educated by the Christian Brothers at Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, and was offered several 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. On leaving school he attended
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 ...
, where he captained the fencing team to its first-ever Intervarsity title.


Career before politics

He became an economist with the
Irish Farmers' Association The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) (Irish: ''Feirmeoirí Aontaithe na hÉireann'') is a national organisation to represent the interests of all sectors of farming in Ireland. The IFA is Ireland's largest farming representative organisation an ...
(IFA) in Dublin in 1969. After Ireland joined the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
(EEC) in 1973, he moved to
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
where he was part of the IFA delegation. In this role, he was influential in framing Ireland's contribution to the
Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Commission. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce ...
. He was appointed as chief of staff to Ireland's EEC commissioner Dick Burke, a former
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.


Early political career

In the
1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Eur ...
, Dukes stood as a Fine Gael candidate in the
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
constituency. He had strong support among the farming community, but the entry of T. J. Maher, a former president of the IFA, as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate hurt his chances of election. Maher topped the poll. He stood again for Fine Gael at the 1981 general election in the expanded
Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...
constituency, where he won a seat in the 22nd Dáil. On his first day in the Dáil, he was appointed Minister for Agriculture by the
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 ...
, Garret FitzGerald, becoming one of only eight TDs so appointed. He was to represent Kildare for 21 years. This minority Fine Gael– Labour Party coalition government collapsed in February 1982 on the budget, but returned to power with a working majority in December 1982. Dukes was again appointed to cabinet, becoming Minister for Finance less than two years into his Dáil career. 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 plans were deferred while the Fine Gael–Labour Party 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 Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
party led by Charles Haughey. Dukes remained in the Department of Finance until a reshuffle in February 1986 when he was appointed as
Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
.


Leadership of Fine Gael

Fine Gael failed to be returned to government at the 1987 general election and lost 19 of its 70 seats, mostly to the new
Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats (, literally "The Democratic Party"), commonly referred to as the PDs, were a conservative liberal political party in Ireland. The party's history spanned 24 years, from its formation in 1985 to its dissolution in 20 ...
. Outgoing Taoiseach and leader Garret FitzGerald stepped down and Dukes was elected leader of Fine Gael, becoming
leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. 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 Fianna Fáil 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 set of cutbacks including a spate of ward and hospital closures. This presented a political opportunity for the opposition to attack the government. However, while addressing a meeting of the Tallaght
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
, Dukes announced, in what became known as the Tallaght Strategy that: This 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. 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 this approach, and the party only made minor gains, gaining four seats. The outcome was the first-ever coalition government for Fianna Fáil, whose junior partner was the
Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats (, literally "The Democratic Party"), commonly referred to as the PDs, were a conservative liberal political party in Ireland. The party's history spanned 24 years, from its formation in 1985 to its dissolution in 20 ...
led by former Fianna Fáil TD
Desmond O'Malley Desmond Joseph O'Malley (2 February 1939 – 21 July 2021) was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1981 and 1989 to 1992, Progressive Democrats, Leader ...
.


1990 presidential election and loss of the leadership

The party's failure to make significant gains in 1989 left some Fine Gael TDs with a desire for a change at the top of the party. Their opportunity came in the wake of the historic 1990 presidential election. Fine Gael chose
Austin Currie Joseph Austin Currie (11 October 1939 – 9 November 2021) was an Irish politician who served as a Minister of State with responsibility for Children's Rights from 1994 to 1997. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency ...
TD as their candidate. He had been a leading member of the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights for Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...
(SDLP) before moving south. Initially, Fianna Fáil's
Brian Lenihan Snr Brian Patrick Lenihan (17 November 1930 – 1 November 1995) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1987 to 1990, Minister for Defence from 1989 to 1990, Minister for Agriculture from March 1982 to December 1982, ...
was the favourite to win. However, after several controversies arose, relating to the brief Fianna Fáil administration of 1982, and Lenihan's dismissal as Minister for Defence midway through the campaign, the Labour Party's
Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...
emerged victorious. To many in Fine Gael, the humiliation of finishing third was too much to bear and a campaign was launched against Dukes' leadership. He was subsequently replaced as party leader by
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 ...
.


Rainbow Coalition

Bruton brought him back to the front bench in September 1992, shortly before the November 1992 general election. In February 1994, Dukes became involved in a failed attempt to oust Bruton as leader and subsequently resigned from the front bench. Bruton became
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 ...
in December 1994. Dukes was not appointed to cabinet at the formation of the government. In December 1996, Dukes returned as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications following the resignation of Michael Lowry. At the 1997 general election, Dukes topped the poll in the new Kildare South constituency, but Fine Gael lost office. He 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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. In 2001, he backed Michael Noonan in his successful bid to become leader of Fine Gael.


Career post-politics

After 21 years, Dukes lost his Dáil seat at the 2002 general election. This contest saw many high-profile casualties for Fine Gael, including Deputy Leader Jim Mitchell, former deputy leader
Nora Owen Nora Owen (; born 1 June 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice (Ireland), Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael#Deputy leaders, Deputy leader of Fine Gael from 1993 to 2001. She ...
and others. Many local commentators felt that Dukes's loss was down to a lack of attention to local issues, for he was highly involved in European projects and had always enjoyed a national profile. He retired from frontline politics that year and was subsequently appointed Director General of the
Institute of International and European Affairs The Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA; ) is an Irish policy think tank focusing on European and international policy trends based in Dublin, Ireland. It is known for its seminars and speaking events which attract notable int ...
. He remained active within Fine Gael and served several terms as the party's vice-president. From 2001 to 2011, Dukes was President of the
Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...
in Dublin, and in June 2004, the French Government appointed him an Officer of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. In April 2004, Dukes was awarded the Commander's Cross of the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...
. In December 2008, he was appointed by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan Jnr as a public interest director on the board of Anglo Irish Bank. The bank was subsequently nationalised, and he served on the board until the IBRC was liquidated in 2013. In January 2009, Dukes was a judge on the
TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...
reality TV show ''Feirm Factor''. From 2011 to 2013, Dukes served as chairman of the Board of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. In 2011, Dukes founded the think tank Asia Matters, which inked an agreement with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in May 2019. Dukes receives annual pension payments of €129,805.


Personal life

Dukes has lived in
Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...
town since first being elected to represent the Kildare constituency in 1981. His wife Fionnuala () is a former local politician and served as a member of
Kildare County Council Kildare County Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ...
from 1999 until her retirement in 2009. She served as Cathaoirleach of the council from 2006 to 2007, becoming only the second woman to hold the position in the body's hundred-year history. They have two daughters.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes, Alan 1945 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Fine Gael TDs Institute of European Affairs Irish people of English descent Leaders of Fine Gael Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Ministers for agriculture of Ireland Ministers for finance of Ireland Ministers for justice of Ireland Ministers for transport of Ireland Politicians from County Dublin Politicians from County Kildare Presidential appointees to the Council of State (Ireland) People educated at Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin