Edward Collins (1 February 1941 – 4 March 2019) 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. He first stood for election in the

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

constituency at a by-election in 1966, but was unsuccessful. He was first elected to

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 ...

as a Fine Gael

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) for the Waterford constituency at the 1969 general election and was re-elected at each subsequent election until he was defeated at the 1987 general election. He served as a Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Energy under the 1981–82 coalition and was reappointed after the second 1982 election. He moved to the position of Minister of State at the Department of Trade, Commerce and Tourism from 1983 until his dismissal in September 1986, after refusing 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 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 ...

's request to resign because of failure to disclose a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

. This related to his involvement with the Collins family's lamb processing businesses; he had stepped down as director of them upon appointment as junior minister, but an article by

Fintan O'Toole Fintan O'Toole (born 16 February 1958) is an Irish journalist, literary editor, and drama critic for ''The Irish Times'', for which he has written since 1988. He was drama critic for the ''New York Daily News'' from 1997 to 2001 and is Advisin ...

in ''

Magill ''Magill'' was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. ''Magill'' specialised in investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann (who wrote its anonymous ...

'' revealed he subsequently attended a meeting discussing a loan application to Agricultural Credit Corporation, a state body. FitzGerald called Collins' action "inadverten and clearly without any improper intent" and the dismissal his "most painful personal decision" as Taoiseach; some party colleagues felt FitzGerald was too fastidious about

appearance of impropriety The appearance of impropriety is a phrase referring to a situation which to a layperson without knowledge of the specific circumstances might seem to raise ethics questions. For instance, although a person might regularly and reliably collect mon ...

. Collins died on 4 March 2019, aged 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Edward 1941 births 2019 deaths Fine Gael TDs Members of the 19th Dáil Members of the 20th Dáil Members of the 21st Dáil Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Politicians from County Waterford Ministers of State of the 24th Dáil Ministers of State of the 22nd Dáil Irish business executives