Donal Creed

Donal John Creed (7 September 1924 – 23 November 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Chairman of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party from 1987 to 1989, Minister of State for School Buildings and Sport from 1982 to 1986, Minister of State for Housing from 1981 to 1982 and Minister of State for Health between June to November 1981.

Donal Creed
Minister of State for School Buildings and Sport
In office 16 December 1982 – 18 February 1986
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Succeeded by	Frank Fahey
Minister of State for Housing
In office 11 November 1981 – 9 March 1982
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Fergus O'Brien
Succeeded by	Ger Connolly
Minister of State for Health
In office 30 June 1981 – 11 November 1981
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGeald
Preceded by	Thomas Hussey
Succeeded by	Gerry L'Estrange
Teachta Dála
In office June 1981 – June 1989
Constituency	Cork North-West
In office April 1965 – June 1981
Constituency	Cork Mid
Member of the European Parliament
In office May 1973 – June 1977
Constituency	Oireachtas
Personal details
Born	Donal John Creed (1924-09-07)7 September 1924 Cork, Ireland
Died	23 November 2017(2017-11-23) (aged 93) Macroom, County Cork, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse(s)	Madeleine Kelleher (m. 1955; d. 2017)
Children	8, including Michael
Alma mater	University College Cork

Creed was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 1989, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Oireachtas from 1973 to 1977.[1] He stepped down from the Dáil at the 1989 general election,[1] when his son Michael Creed held the seat for Fine Gael.[2]

Career

He first stood for Dáil Éireann at a by-election in March 1965 for the Cork Mid constituency, following the death of the Labour Party TD Dan Desmond.[3] The by-election was won by Desmond's widow Eileen,[3] but at the 1965 general election in April that year Creed won the fourth seat in the four-seat constituency.[4]

Creed was re-elected at seven further general elections, switching in 1981 to the new Cork North-West constituency when Cork Mid was abolished in boundary changes. From 1973 to 1977, he served as one of Ireland's first Members of the European Parliament (MEP), before MEPs were directly elected. Creed served on three of the European Parliament's committees: Agriculture, Public Health and the Environment, Regional Policy and Transport.[5] He was also Chairman of Cork County Council from 1978 to 1979.[6]

In Garret FitzGerald's first coalition government, Creed was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health from June to November 1981, and then at the Department of the Environment from November 1981 until the government was defeated in a budget vote in January 1982. Fianna Fáil was returned to power at the resulting February 1982 general election, but that government also was short-lived. When FitzGerald formed a new coalition government after another general election in November 1982, Creed was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Education, and held that post until a reshuffle in February 1986.[7]

References

1. "Donal Creed". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
2. "Michael Creed". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
3. "Cork Mid by-election, 10 March 1965". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
4. "Donal Creed". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
5. "Irish MEPs: 1973-1979". European Parliament information office in Ireland. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
6. "History of the Mayor". Cork County Council. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
7. "History of Government: Twenty-Fourth Dáil". Department of the Taoiseach. Retrieved 1 January 2008.

Party political offices
Preceded by Kieran Crotty	Chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party 1987–1989	Succeeded by Tom Enright