Mary Harney

Mary Harney ( Irish Máire Ní Áirne ; born March 11, 1953 in Ballinasloe , County Galway ) is an Irish politician , former Deputy Prime Minister ( Tánaiste ) and Minister of Health of her country from 2004 to 2011.

biography

Harney grew up on a farm near the city of Newcastle in County Dublin . She studied at Trinity College in Dublin and received her Bachelor of Arts in 1976 . In 1977 she was named Senator in the Seanad Éireann by Taoiseach Jack Lynch . Subsequently, Harney was elected to the Dáil Éireann in 1981 . In 1985 she resigned from the Fianna Fáil and turned to the Progressive Democrats ; Harney was a founding member of this party. A few years later, from July 1989 to November 1992, she held her first post as Minister of State in the Ministry of the Environment. In October 1993 she was elected leader of the Progressive Democrats, the first woman to hold chairmanship of a major Irish party.

In June 1997, Harney led her party into a coalition government with the Fianna Fáil. Harney has now become Deputy Prime Minister ( Tánaiste ) and Minister for Enterprise Employment . In July 1997 the office was renamed Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment . She kept the ministerial post until September 2004 when she became Minister for Health and Children . Two years later, she resigned from her post as Tánaiste and party leader. Michael McDowell succeeded her in these offices. When he lost his seat in the Dáil Éireann in the 2007 elections, Harney was again chairman of the Progressive Democrats and remained so until she was replaced by Ciarán Cannon in April 2008 . After the dissolution of the Progressive Democrats, Harney sat from 2009 to 2011 as an independent in the Dáil Éireann. In the 2011 election she did not run.

Mary Harney has been married to businessman Brian Geoghegan since November 2001.

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personal data
SURNAME	Harney, Mary
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Irish politician
DATE OF BIRTH	March 11, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ballinasloe