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Frank Cluskey (8 April 1930 – 7 May 1989) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism from 1982 to 1983, Leader of the Labour Party from 1977 to 1981 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare from 1973 to 1977. 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) for the Dublin South-Central and Dublin Central constituencies from 1965 to 1981 and 1982 to 1989.


Early and personal life

Cluskey was born on 8 April 1930 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 ...
, the youngest of two sons and three daughters of Francis Cluskey a butcher and active trade unionist, and Elizabeth Cluskey (née Millington). His father was long-serving secretary of the butchers' section of the
Workers' Union of Ireland The Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), later the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland, was an Ireland, Irish trade union formed in 1924. In 1990, it merged with the Irish Transport and General Workers Union to form the SIPTU, Services, Industrial, P ...
(WUI)), and a close associate of James Larkin. He was educated at St. Vincent's C.B.S. in
Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...
. He worked as a butcher and then joined the Labour Party. He quickly became a branch secretary in the WUI. He married Eileen Gillespie in 1965, a post office civil servant from Clontarf; she died after a short illness in 1978. They had two daughters and one son.


Politics

At the 1965 general election he was elected as a Labour Party
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. He was a 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 ...
from 1960 to 1969, and in 1968 he was elected
Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...
. In 1973 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare,
Brendan Corish Brendan Corish (19 November 1918 – 17 February 1990) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1973 to 1977, Leader of the Labour Party, Minister for Social Welfare from 1954 to 1957 and from ...
. He introduced sweeping reforms to the area while he held that position, pushing through legislation introducing a 'single-mothers' welfare allowance and managing with his colleagues to triple welfare spending between 1973 and 1977. He played a leading role in initiating the EU Poverty Programmes. The
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 was defeated at the 1977 general election resulting in the resignation of
Brendan Corish Brendan Corish (19 November 1918 – 17 February 1990) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1973 to 1977, Leader of the Labour Party, Minister for Social Welfare from 1954 to 1957 and from ...
as Labour Party leader. Cluskey was elected the new leader of the Labour Party. In 1981, the Labour Party entered into a coalition government with Fine Gael. However Cluskey had lost his seat at the 1981 general election and resigned the party leadership. On 1 July 1981, he was appointed 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
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 ...
, replacing Michael O'Leary, who had resigned the seat after succeeding Cluskey as Labour leader. The coalition government fell in January 1982 over a budget dispute, and Cluskey was re-elected to the Dáil at the February 1982 general election. When the coalition returned to office after the November 1982 election, Cluskey was appointed as Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism. He then resigned from the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
, to be replaced by Brendan Halligan. On 8 December 1983 he resigned as Minister due to a fundamental disagreement over government policy about the Dublin Gas Company. He retained his Dáil seat in the 1987 general election. Following his re-election his health deteriorated. He died on 7 May 1989 after a long battle with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cluskey, Frank 1930 births 1989 deaths Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Labour Party (Ireland) MEPs Leaders of the Labour Party (Ireland) Lord mayors of Dublin Members of the 18th Dáil Members of the 19th Dáil Members of the 20th Dáil Members of the 21st Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1979–1984 Parliamentary secretaries of the 20th Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Ministers for enterprise, trade and employment Labour Party (Ireland) local councillors