Edward Nealon (24 November 1929 – 28 January 2014) 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 and journalist.

Biography

He was born at

Aclare Aclare () is a village in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and the main village in the parish of Kilmactigue. Formerly, the village of Aclare was not part of the same-named townland, but straddled the border of the adjacent townlands ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

in 1929, the younger of two sons of Ted and Una Nealon. Hie mother died when Ted was two years old and the boys were raised by their father. He attended St Nathy's College,

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is in the north-west of the county, near the borders with counties Mayo and Sligo, just off the N5 road. The population was 2,387 in the 2 ...

, County Mayo. He 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 ...

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 Sligo–Leitrim at the 1981 general election, and was re-elected at each subsequent general election until he retired from politics at the 1997 general election. Previously he had stood for election in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

at Dublin Clontarf, but failed to be elected. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1982 in the Fine Gael– Labour Party

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

. After the November 1982 general election, another Fine Gael–Labour Party

was formed in December under

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 ...

. Nealon was appointed as

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

with responsibility for Arts and Culture, and in February 1983, he was appointed to the additional post of

Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs () was the holder of a position in the Government of Ireland (and, earlier, in the Executive Council of the Irish Free State). From 1924 until 1984 – when it was abolished – the minister headed the Depa ...

, with special responsibility for broadcasting. After the restructuring of government departments in January 1984, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Communications with special responsibility for radio and television. He was the founder and editor of ''Nealon's Guide to the Dáil and Seanad'' from 1973 to 1997. This book comes out after every general election and is regarded as the 'bible' of political statistics and information. Since 1997 it has been edited by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

''. In 2008, he published ''Tales from the Dáil bar'', a collection of anecdotes featuring many of the characters of Irish politics. Prior to going into politics, Nealon was a well-known current affairs presenter on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. He won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for his hosting of the television coverage of the

1973 Irish general election The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election t ...

results. He died in January 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nealon, Ted 1929 births 2014 deaths Fine Gael TDs Jacob's Award winners Irish television journalists 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 Ministers of state of the 24th Dáil Ministers of state of the 22nd Dáil RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Politicians from County Sligo Writers from County Sligo People educated at St Nathy's College Broadcasters from County Sligo