Eric Joseph Byrne (born 21 April 1947) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who 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) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 1989 to 1992, 1994 to 1997 and 2011 to 2016. He was formerly a member of

Official Sinn Féin The Workers' Party () is an Irish republican, Marxist–Leninist communist party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The party formerly asserted a claim of direct descent from the History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn F� ...

, the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

and Democratic Left.

Biography

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 ...

, 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 ...

and the

Bolton Street College of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The instit ...

. A

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

before entering politics, Byrne stood unsuccessfully for election 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 Workers' Party candidate for Dublin Rathmines West at the 1977 general election and Dublin South-Central at the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, February 1982, November 1982 and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

general elections. He was elected in 1985 as a Workers' Party member of

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

for Crumlin–

Kimmage Kimmage ( or ''Camaigh uisce'', meaning "crooked water-meadow", possibly referring to the meandering course of the River Poddle), is a suburb on the south side of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Location Kimmage is to the south of Dublin city ce ...

area, and was re-elected at subsequent local elections until 2011, where he was forced to resign his seat due to dual mandate. He was finally elected at the 1989 general election. He joined with Workers' Party members who formed Democratic Left in 1992. He unexpectedly lost his seat at the 1992 general election. Labour's Pat Upton was unexpectedly returned on the first count, with Byrne finally losing the last seat to

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 ...

's Ben Briscoe by five votes after a marathon 10-day count. He was elected to the

27th Dáil The 27th Dáil was elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 and met on 14 December 1992. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

on 9 June 1994 following the resignation of long-serving Fianna Fáil TD John O'Connell (who had previously been a Labour TD for the same constituency). Byrne was a backbench supporter of the Rainbow government led by

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 ...

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 ...

. Byrne lost his seat again at the 1997 general election. Although the Labour Party and the Democratic Left merged in 1999, he was not selected to contest the Dublin South-Central by-election which followed Pat Upton's death later that year. Upton's sister

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

was elected for the Labour Party. Byrne contested the 2002 general election on the Labour Party ticket as Mary Upton's running-mate, but was unsuccessful. Along with Mary Upton, he contested the Dublin South-Central constituency at the 2007 general election advocating a Labour Party/Fine Gael government but missed the final seat by 69 votes. Byrne was nominated by the Labour Party to contest the Seanad election in the Labour panel but was not elected. In 2009, he was re-elected to Dublin City Council. At the 2011 general election he was re-elected to the Dáil, after 14 years. In January 2015, he became involved in an altercation with

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

TD,

Jonathan O'Brien Jonathan O'Brien (born 28 December 1971) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency from 2011 to 2020. Early life O'Brien moved to Morecambe, Lancashire in the early 19 ...

. During ministers questions, O'Brien had criticised

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy leader of the Labour Party fro ...

over homelessness in Ireland, citing the experiences of his brother who was a recovering heroin addict. Byrne asked of O'Brien "Why doesn't his good family give him a home?" which infuriated O'Brien. ''The Irish Times'' journalist Miriam Lord criticized Byrne, remarking that "You sense the relief rising in the chamber. They don't like it when the real world intrudes. These sort of things don't really happen to TDs." He lost his seat at the 2016 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Eric 1947 births Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Democratic Left (Ireland) TDs Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of Dublin City Council Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Workers' Party (Ireland) TDs People educated at Synge Street CBS