Peter Barry

Peter Barry
Tánaiste
In office 20 January 1987 – 10 March 1987
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Dick Spring
Succeeded by	Brian Lenihan
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 14 December 1982 – 10 March 1987
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Gerry Collins
Succeeded by	Brian Lenihan
Minister for Transport and Power
In office 14 March 1973 – 2 December 1976
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Michael O'Kennedy
Succeeded by	Tom Fitzpatrick
Minister for Education
In office 2 December 1976 – 25 May 1977
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Richard Burke
Succeeded by	John Wilson
Minister for the Environment
In office 30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Ray Burke
Succeeded by	Ray Burke
Teachta Dála
In office June 1981 – June 1997
Constituency	Cork South–Central
In office June 1977 – June 1981
Constituency	Cork City
In office June 1969 – June 1977
Constituency	Cork City South–East
Personal details
Born	10 August 1928 Cork, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse(s)	Margaret Mullane (d.2013)
Relations	Anthony Barry (Father) Deirdre Clune (Daughter)
Children	6

Peter Barry (born 10 August 1928) is a retired Irish Fine Gael politician and businessman from Cork city. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1997, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1987 he helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Agreement and in 1987 he served for a short time as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister).^[1]

Family

Barry was the son of Anthony Barry, a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) and well-known businessman. He was educated in Cork and then became the major shareholder in the family company, Barry's Tea.

Political career

Peter Barry was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork City South–East constituency at the 1969 general election. When Fine Gael came to power at the 1973 general election, he was appointed Minister for Transport and Power. In 1976 he became Minister for Education. In 1979, when Garret FitzGerald became leader, Barry was elected deputy leader of the Fine Gael party. From 1981 to March 1982 he served as Minister for the Environment.^[2]

From December 1982 to 1987 he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In his capacity as Foreign Minister he was heavily involved in the negotiations which resulted in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. He also became the first joint chairman of the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference which was established by the Irish and British governments. Following the Labour Party's withdrawal from the coalition government in 1987 Barry became Tánaiste for a brief period.

When FitzGerald resigned as Fine Gael leader after the 1987 general election Barry was one of three candidates (along with Alan Dukes and John Bruton) who contested the leadership of Fine Gael. Dukes was the eventual victor.

He retired at the 1997 general election and his seat was held for Fine Gael by his daughter, Deirdre Clune.

He receives annual pension payments of €111,150.^[3]

Northern Ireland by-elections, 1986

In 1986 the fifteen Unionist members of the Westminster parliament resigned in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, leading to by-elections. To ensure contests in each constituency, Wesley Robert Williamson changed his name by deed poll to Peter Barry ^[4] and stood in the four constituencies of North Antrim, South Antrim, East Londonderry and Strangford under the label "For the Anglo-Irish Agreement". Despite not campaigning, he won over 6,000 votes.

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas

References

1. "Mr. Peter Barry". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
2. "Peter Barry". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
3. Foxe, Ken (1 July 2015). "The Cost of Political Pensions". RTÉ Investigations Unit. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
4. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fw86.htm