Michael O'Leary (politician)

Michael O'Leary (8 May 1936 – 11 May 2006) was an Irish politician and barrister. He was Minister for Labour and while leader of the Labour Party became Minister for Energy and Tánaiste. He later became a member of the Fine Gael party.

Born in Cork, the son of a publican, O'Leary was educated at Presentation College, University College Cork and Columbia University, New York, King's Inns On returning to Ireland, he became involved in Labour politics and was employed as Education Officer for the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU). In this rôle he was instrumental in establishing the Universities Branch, affiliated to Dublin North-Central Constituency, bringing together Dublin University Fabian Society and UCD Labour Party students.

O'Leary was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North Central in the 1965 general election. His agent was Bob Mitchell, Chairman of Dublin University Fabian Society, who could claim credit in a dirty campaign for picking up transfers to squeeze out the Labour Party front-runner on the 11th Recount.

When first elected to the Dáil, O'Leary encouraged the Labour Party to take a more left-wing stance in its policies. He was initially strongly opposed to the idea of a coalition with Fine Gael but after the 1969 general election he believed that there was a need for a new approach. When the Labour Party and Fine Gael formed the National Coalition government following the 1973......
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