Eileen Christine Desmond (; 29 December 1932 – 6 January 2005) was an Irish Labour Party 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 ...

and Minister for Social Welfare from 1981 to 1982. She was 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 1965 to 1969 and 1973 to 1987. She also served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for 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 from 1979 to 1981 and 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

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

from 1969 to 1973.

Early life

She was born in

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, her father was a postman and part-time fisherman, who went blind when she was aged eleven, her mother was the local seamstress. She was educated locally at the Convent of Mercy in Kinsale, where she was one of only two girls in her class to sit the

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

examination. Before entering politics she worked as a civil servant with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. She married Dan Desmond in 1955, a Labour TD for Cork from 1948 to 1964, and they had two daughters.

Politics

Desmond was 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 ...

in a by-election on 10 March 1965, caused by the death of her husband Dan Desmond. Her victory in the Cork Mid constituency led

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 ...

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

to dissolve the

17th Dáil The 17th Dáil was elected at the 1961 general election on 4 October 1961 and met on 11 October 1961. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 10 ...

, before she could assume her seat, and call a general election. She was elected for the second time in a year, but lost her seat at the 1969 general election. However, Desmond was then elected to the 12th Seanad on the

, where she served until her re-election to the 20th Dáil following the 1973 general election. She supported the unsuccessful Contraceptives Bill in 1974. She was elected to the European Parliament at 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 ...

for the

constituency. However, her time in Europe was short-lived, as she returned to domestic politics when she was offered a position as Minister and the chance to impact national legislation. At the 1981 general election she switched her constituency to

Cork South-Central "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. A

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 ...

– Labour Party coalition came to power and Desmond was appointed Minister for Health and for Social Welfare. Desmond was the third woman to be appointed to cabinet since the foundation of the state in 1922, the first in a

- Labour Party cabinet, and the first female officeholder of the health and social welfare ministries. Desmond was the only woman in that short-lived coalition Cabinet. She created the National Combat Poverty Agency, which addressed inequality. She achieved a 25% increase in social welfare allowance, a level never achieved before. However, the budget was defeated on 27 January 1982, leading to the dissolution of the

22nd Dáil The 22nd Dáil was elected at the 1981 Irish general election, 1981 general election on 11 June 1981 and met on 30 June 1981. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature), of Republic of Ireland, I ...

, so the increases never came into effect. Desmond left politics in 1987 for health reasons but stood unsuccessfully in the

1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a held on June Wednesday 15 to Sunday 18 across the 12 European Union member state in June 1989. It was the third European Parliament election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the sam ...

after her health improved. She died in 2005.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Eileen 1932 births 2005 deaths Labour Party (Ireland) MEPs Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Labour Party (Ireland) senators MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1979–1984 Members of the 12th Seanad 20th-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 17th Dáil Members of the 18th 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 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers for health of Ireland Ministers for social affairs of Ireland People from Kinsale Politicians from County Cork Spouses of Irish politicians 20th-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Industrial and Commercial Panel senators