Ray MacSharry
Encyclopedia
Raymond MacSharry (born 29 April 1938) is a former Irish
Fianna Fáil
politician, who served in a range of cabinet positions, most notably as Tánaiste
, Minister for Finance
and European Commissioner.
, MacSharry was educated at the local national school before later briefly attending Summerhill College
. After leaving school he worked as a livestock dealer throughout Sligo and Mayo
before becoming involved in the Meat Exporters Factory in his native town. MacSharry also owned his own haulage firm.
in Sligo. In 1967 he made his first move into politics when he secured election to both Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council
. It was from this local base that MacSharry launched his national election campaign.
MacSharry secured election to Dáil Éireann
for Fianna Fáil in the Sligo-Leitrim at the 1969 general election
. It was a fourth general election triumph in succession for the party, however, he spent his first term on the backbenches. MacSharry was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1973 general election
, however, Fianna Fáil were out of power as a Fine Gael
-Labour Party
government came to power.
In Jack Lynch
's subsequent front bench reshuffle, MacSharry was appointed opposition spokesperson on the Office of Public Works
.
Following the 1977 general election
, Fianna Fáil returned to government with a massive twenty-seat Dáil majority. In spite of entering his third term MacSharry was left on the backbenches. With the introduction of the new Minister of State
positions in 1978, he finally secured a junior ministerial post, that of Minister of State at the Department of the Public Service.
and as Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequent leadership contest
was a straight battle between George Colley
and Charles Haughey
. Colley was the favoured choice of the outgoing leadership and of the majority of the cabinet while Haughey had the backing of a large rump of backbench TDs who had become disillusioned with the party leadership. MacSharry, in spite of serving as junior minister to Colley, was one of the strongest supporters of Haughey and even ended up nominating him for the position of party leader. Haughey succeeded in becoming party leader, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes, and was later elected Taoiseach by the Dáil.
MacSharry's loyalty was subsequently rewarded when he was appointed Minister for Agriculture in the new government. Agriculture was viewed as a key portfolio in Haughey's new cabinet and MacSharry was regarded as an effective minister at a time when farm prices were falling. He was also successful in agricultural negotiations with the EEC
.
Following the 1981 general election
Fianna Fáil were out of power. In the new Fianna Fáil front bench MacSharry was retained as spokesperson for agriculture but a later reshuffle saw him move to fisheries.
Fianna Fáil returned to government following the February 1982 general election and MacSharry was promoted to the positions of Tánaiste
and Minister for Finance
. At a time when Ireland was going through a recession, MacSharry introduced a budget which increased icome tax at all levels. It was his only budget as the government fell after just nine months in office and a new coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party took office.
Commissioner Joseph Ainsworth. Ainsworth was also forced to resign when the scandal reached the headlines.
as an MEP
for Connacht-Ulster in 1984.
Following the 1987 general election
MacSharry was returned to the Dáil once again. He resigned his European Parliament seat when he was appointed Minister for Finance in Haughey's new government. During his second tenure in charge of finance, MacSharry committed himself to bringing order to the public finances and the poor economic situation. His ruthless cutting of state spending earned him the nickname Mack the Knife.
During this time he came to be identified as Haughey's heir apparent as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. MacSharry, however, had no such aspirations and had actually wanted to leave politics by the time he was forty-five. He was now fifty and had achieved some of the highest offices in the Irish government. In 1988 MacSharry's loyalty to Haughey was rewarded when he was appointed European Commissioner. As a result of this he resigned his Dáil seat and ended his domestic political career.
MacSharry is well known as the first commissioner of agriculture to be able to work out a meaningful compromise on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
in 1992. The MacSharry reforms as they are known, mark the turning point between the "old" CAP policy, and the "new", although many other reforms followed his.
and Ryanair
Holdings. In 1999 he was appointed chairman of Eircom
plc. MacSharry is also a member of the Comite d'Honneur of the Institute of European Affairs.
MacSharry is a non-executive director of Irish Life and Permanent
and receives pension payments of €88,936 every year.
, is a current member of Seanad Éireann
, while his nephew Tom MacSharry was a Councillor
on Sligo Borough Council
, 2004–2009, and served as Mayor in 2006–07.
-
-
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
politician, who served in a range of cabinet positions, most notably as Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
, Minister for Finance
Minister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...
and European Commissioner.
Early life
Born in SligoSligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
, MacSharry was educated at the local national school before later briefly attending Summerhill College
Summerhill College
Summerhill College is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys in Sligo, County Sligo, Ireland.- History :...
. After leaving school he worked as a livestock dealer throughout Sligo and Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
before becoming involved in the Meat Exporters Factory in his native town. MacSharry also owned his own haulage firm.
Beginnings
MacSharry came from a non-political family, however, he himself became an active member of Fianna FáilFianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
in Sligo. In 1967 he made his first move into politics when he secured election to both Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council
Sligo County Council
Sligo County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Sligo in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment....
. It was from this local base that MacSharry launched his national election campaign.
MacSharry secured election 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...
for Fianna Fáil in the Sligo-Leitrim at the 1969 general election
Irish general election, 1969
The Irish general election of 1969 was held on 18 June 1969. The newly elected members of the 19th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 2 July when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed...
. It was a fourth general election triumph in succession for the party, however, he spent his first term on the backbenches. MacSharry was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1973 general election
Irish general election, 1973
The Irish general election of 1973 was held on 28 February 1973. The newly elected 144 members of the 20th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 4 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
, however, Fianna Fáil were out of power 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...
-Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
government came to power.
In Jack Lynch
Jack Lynch
John Mary "Jack" Lynch was the Taoiseach of Ireland, serving two terms in office; from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979....
's subsequent front bench reshuffle, MacSharry was appointed opposition spokesperson on the Office of Public Works
Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works is a State Agency of the Department of Finance in the Republic of Ireland...
.
Following the 1977 general election
Irish general election, 1977
The Irish general election of 1977 was held on 16 June 1977 and is regarded as a pivotal point in twentieth century Irish politics. The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 148 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of...
, Fianna Fáil returned to government with a massive twenty-seat Dáil majority. In spite of entering his third term MacSharry was left on the backbenches. With the introduction of the new Minister of State
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....
positions in 1978, he finally secured a junior ministerial post, that of Minister of State at the Department of the Public Service.
Cabinet Minister
In 1979 Jack Lynch suddenly announced his resignation as TaoiseachTaoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
and as Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequent leadership contest
Fianna Fáil leadership election, 1979
The 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership election began in December 1979, when Jack Lynch resigned as party leader and Taoiseach. Lynch had been party leader for thirteen years and Taoiseach for over nine years. His successor was elected by the members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on 7 December...
was a straight battle between George Colley
George Colley
George Colley was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who served in a wide number of Cabinet poistions, most notably as Minister for Finance and Tánaiste. He was twice defeated for the leadership of Fianna Fáil in 1966 and 1979.-Early life:Colley was born in Fairview, on the northside of Dublin...
and Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
. Colley was the favoured choice of the outgoing leadership and of the majority of the cabinet while Haughey had the backing of a large rump of backbench TDs who had become disillusioned with the party leadership. MacSharry, in spite of serving as junior minister to Colley, was one of the strongest supporters of Haughey and even ended up nominating him for the position of party leader. Haughey succeeded in becoming party leader, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes, and was later elected Taoiseach by the Dáil.
MacSharry's loyalty was subsequently rewarded when he was appointed Minister for Agriculture in the new government. Agriculture was viewed as a key portfolio in Haughey's new cabinet and MacSharry was regarded as an effective minister at a time when farm prices were falling. He was also successful in agricultural negotiations with the EEC
EEC
EEC is an abbreviation that usually refers to the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Union.It may also refer to;* The East Erie Commercial Railroad, a shortline in Pennsylvania...
.
Following the 1981 general election
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....
Fianna Fáil were out of power. In the new Fianna Fáil front bench MacSharry was retained as spokesperson for agriculture but a later reshuffle saw him move to fisheries.
Fianna Fáil returned to government following the February 1982 general election and MacSharry was promoted to the positions of Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
and Minister for Finance
Minister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...
. At a time when Ireland was going through a recession, MacSharry introduced a budget which increased icome tax at all levels. It was his only budget as the government fell after just nine months in office and a new coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party took office.
Bugging Scandal in 1983
In 1983 MacSharry resigned from the Fianna Fáil front bench due to a telephone-tapping controversy, when it was revealed that as Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, he had borrowed police tape recorders to secretly record conversations with a cabinet colleague. He defended his action by saying that rumours were sweeping the party that he could be 'bought' (bribed) to support efforts to depose Haughey; he claimed he used the equipment to record any attempts made to offer bribes. The scandal was however primarily focused on the decision by the Minister for Justice, Seán Doherty, to bug the phones of two leading political journalists to discover their anti-Haughey sources. MacSharry was a secondary but high profile casualty of the scandal, as the equipment he had used had been supplied by Doherty, who had requested it from Assistant GardaGarda
Garda may refer to:* An Garda Síochána, the national police of the Republic of Ireland* Lake Garda, a lake in northern Italy.* Garda , a commune on the shores of the Italian Lake Garda in the province of Verona....
Commissioner Joseph Ainsworth. Ainsworth was also forced to resign when the scandal reached the headlines.
Political comeback and European Commissioner
MacSharry spent a number of years in the political wilderness following the phone-tapping scandal. He was elected to the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
as an MEP
MEP
MEP may refer to:* Member of the European Parliament, an elected politician in the European Union * Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, a part of the building design industry...
for Connacht-Ulster in 1984.
Following the 1987 general election
Irish general election, 1987
The Irish general election of 1987 was held on 17 February 1987, four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 20 January. The newly-elected 166 members of the 25th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 10 March when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place in...
MacSharry was returned to the Dáil once again. He resigned his European Parliament seat when he was appointed Minister for Finance in Haughey's new government. During his second tenure in charge of finance, MacSharry committed himself to bringing order to the public finances and the poor economic situation. His ruthless cutting of state spending earned him the nickname Mack the Knife.
During this time he came to be identified as Haughey's heir apparent as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. MacSharry, however, had no such aspirations and had actually wanted to leave politics by the time he was forty-five. He was now fifty and had achieved some of the highest offices in the Irish government. In 1988 MacSharry's loyalty to Haughey was rewarded when he was appointed European Commissioner. As a result of this he resigned his Dáil seat and ended his domestic political career.
MacSharry is well known as the first commissioner of agriculture to be able to work out a meaningful compromise on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
in 1992. The MacSharry reforms as they are known, mark the turning point between the "old" CAP policy, and the "new", although many other reforms followed his.
Retirement from politics
Following the completion of his term as Commissioner, MacSharry retired from politics to pursue business interests. He is currently a director on the boards of a variety of companies including Bank of IrelandBank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
and Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
Holdings. In 1999 he was appointed chairman of Eircom
Eircom
Eircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...
plc. MacSharry is also a member of the Comite d'Honneur of the Institute of European Affairs.
MacSharry is a non-executive director of Irish Life and Permanent
Irish Life and Permanent
Irish Life and Permanent, Plc or IL&P is a provider of personal financial services in Ireland. IL&P enjoys limited liability....
and receives pension payments of €88,936 every year.
Private life
MacSharry is married to Elaine and the couple had six children. One of his sons, Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry
Marc MacSharry is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a member of Seanad Éireann on the Industrial and Commercial Panel since September 2002. He was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2007. He was educated in Sligo and at Castleknock College in Dublin...
, is a current member of Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
, while his nephew Tom MacSharry was a Councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
on Sligo Borough Council
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
, 2004–2009, and served as Mayor in 2006–07.
External links
- Ray MacSharry's electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)
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