Hugh Coveney
Encyclopedia
Hugh P. Coveney was a senior Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 politician, and a noted yachtsman.

Hugh Coveney was born into one of Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

's prosperous "merchant prince" families in 1935. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork
Christian Brothers College, Cork
Christian Brothers College, Cork is a fee-paying Catholic school under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust in Cork, Ireland....

, Clongowes Wood and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He worked as a chartered quantity surveyor before entering politics.

Political career

Coveney was Lord Mayor of Cork
Lord Mayor of Cork
The Lord Mayor of Cork is the honorific title of the Chairman of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The incumbent is Terry Shannon of Fianna Fáil. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council.-History of office:In 1199 there...

 from 1982 to 1983. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 in 1981
Irish general election, 1981
The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

 as a Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 for Cork South Central. He lost his seat in the first general election of 1982 but regained it in the second election in the same year. He lost his seat again in 1987 and didn't contest the 1992 election. He was elected to the Dáil again in 1994 in a by-election.

He was first appointed to the Cabinet
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...

 in 1994 under John Bruton
John Bruton
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...

. Coveney was appointed Minister for Defence
Minister for Defence (Ireland)
The Minister for Defence is the senior minister at the Department of Defence in the Government of Ireland. Under new arrangements this department is being merged with the Department of Justice over which Mr. Shatter will also preside....

 and Minister for the Marine. However, he was demoted to a junior ministry
Minister of State (Ireland)
A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-Cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland....

 the following year after allegations of improper contact with businessmen.

Yachting

Coveney's yacht Golden Apple of The Sun (designed by Cork-based designer Ron Holland
Ron Holland
Ronald John Holland is a yacht designer, who came to prominence in the 1970s with his successful racing designs, and is now best known for his superyachts such as Mirabella V and Ethereal...

) was a successful competitor in the Admiral's Cup
Admiral's Cup
The Admiral's Cup is an international yachting regatta. For many years it was known as the unofficial world championship of offshore racing. The Admiral's Cup regatta was started in 1957 and was normally a biennial event which was competed for between national teams. However the event was not...

 in the 1970s.

A later 50 feet (15.2 m) yacht Golden Apple was used by the family for the "Sail Chernobyl" project. The family sailed around the world to raise €650,000 for the Chernobyl Children's Project
Chernobyl Children's Project International
Chernobyl Children's Project International is a United Nations-accredited international development, medical, and humanitarian organization that works with children, families and communities that continue to be affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.- Purpose :The organization was...

, a charity which offers assistance to children affected by the 1986 accident at the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl
Chernobyl
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

.

Death

In March 1998 it became publicly known that the Moriarty Tribunal
Moriarty Tribunal
The Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters was an Irish Public inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry. It has revealed significant tax evasion by these and other politicians and leading...

 had questioned Coveney about whether he had a secret offshore account with Ansbacher Bank, a bank which had become notorious for facilitating tax-evasion. Ten days later, on 13 March 1998, Coveney visited his solicitor to change his will. The next day, 14 March 1998, Coveney died in a fall from a seaside cliff while out walking alone. His son, Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála for Cork South Central since 1998. In March 2011 he became Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Enda Kenny's coalition government....

, insisted that his father had never held an Ansbacher account. It later emerged that Hugh Coveney had $175,000 on deposit in the secret Caman Island-based bank.

Simon Coveney was later elected to succeed his father as TD in the resulting by-election.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK