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Patrick Cooney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Patrick Cooney (disambiguation).

Patrick Cooney
Cooney in 1994
Minister for Education
In office
14 February 1986 – 10 March 1987
TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald
Preceded byGemma Hussey
Succeeded byMary O'Rourke
Minister for Defence
In office
14 December 1982 – 14 February 1986
TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald
Preceded byPaddy Power
Succeeded byPaddy O'Toole
Minister for Transport
In office
30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald
Preceded byAlbert Reynolds
Succeeded byJohn Wilson
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
In office
30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald
Preceded byAlbert Reynolds
Succeeded byJohn Wilson
Minister for Justice
In office
14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave
Preceded byDesmond O'Malley
Succeeded byGerry Collins
Member of the European Parliament
In office
1 July 1989 – 24 May 1994
ConstituencyLeinster
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1981 – June 1989
In office
April 1970 – June 1977
ConstituencyLongford–Westmeath
Senator
In office
27 October 1977 – 11 June 1981
ConstituencyCultural and Educational Panel
Personal details
Born(1931-03-02)2 March 1931
Dublin, Ireland
Died6 December 2025(2025-12-06) (aged 94)
Dublin, Ireland
PartyFine Gael
Spouse
Brigid McMenamin
​
(m. 1958)​
Children4
EducationCastleknock College
Alma materUniversity College Dublin

Patrick Mark Cooney (2 March 1931 – 6 December 2025) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a government minister in the cabinets of Liam Cosgrave (1973–1977) and Garret FitzGerald (1981–1982 and 1982–1987). He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Leinster constituency from 1989 to 1994. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency from 1970 to 1977 and between 1981 and 1989. He also served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1977 to 1981.[1]

Background

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Cooney was born on 2 March 1931, and educated at Castleknock College and University College Dublin, where he completed a BA in 1951 and an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in 1953.[2] He first stood as a candidate for Dáil Éireann in the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 1961 general election but failed to win a seat, and he was defeated again in 1965 and 1969.

Cooney died on 6 December 2025, at the age of 94.[3][4][5]

Political career

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After the death of the Fianna Fáil TD Patrick Lenihan, Cooney was elected to the 19th Dáil in the Longford–Westmeath by-election in April 1970.[6]

At the 1973 general election Cooney not only managed to hold on to the former Fianna Fáil seat he had won in the previous by-election but "also managed to top the poll on this occasion."[7]

This election saw a Fine Gael–Labour Party National Coalition government take office, and Cooney was appointed to Liam Cosgrave's cabinet as Minister for Justice. He ordered the coffin of Frank Stagg to be covered in concrete.[8] In December 1973, the Supreme Court found in McGee v. The Attorney General that marital privacy was protected by the Constitution of Ireland, including a right to contraception. Cooney proposed the Control of Importation, Sale and Manufacture of Contraceptives Bill 1974, which was defeated in the Dáil on a free vote, with Cosgrave voting against the legislation proposed by a member of his cabinet.[9]

Cooney was one of several cabinet ministers to lose his seat at the 1977 general election but was subsequently elected to the 14th Seanad as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel.

In October 1977 he was the subject of a libellous column by the Sunday World and went on to win £28,000 libel damages said by one former Dublin newspaper editor to be the "result of a combination of unprofessional journalism, editorial strife within the paper and managerial timidity".[10]

In 1979, at the first direct elections to the European Parliament, he stood unsuccessfully in the Connacht–Ulster constituency.

At the 1981 general election, he was returned to the Dáil again for his old Longford–Westmeath constituency. Under Garret FitzGerald, Cooney served as Minister for Transport and Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from June 1981 to March 1982, as Minister for Defence from December 1982 to February 1986, and as Minister for Education from 1986 to 1987.

He was elected as a MEP for the Leinster constituency at the 1989 European Parliament elections and did not contest the 1989 general election. He did not stand for re-election in 1994.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Patrick Cooney". Oireachtas Members Database. 16 May 1989. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. ^ "MEPS – Patrick Mark Cooney". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Tánaiste pays tribute to former FG minister Paddy Cooney". RTÉ News. 6 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  4. ^ Kelleher, Olivia. "Former Fine Gael minister and MEP Paddy Cooney dies aged 94". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  5. ^ "Death notice of Pat Cooney". RIP.ie. 7 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Patrick Cooney". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Westmeath Elections 1970–2020". William Durkan. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  8. ^ Behind Closed Doors: Cabinet Confidential. RTÉ. 2 January 2007
  9. ^ "Control of Importation, Sale and Manufacture of Contraceptives Bill, 1974: Second Stage (Resumed) – Dáil Éireann (20th Dáil) – Vol. 274 No. 7". Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 July 1974. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  10. ^ "How Patrick Cooney scooped the Sunday World". Magill. 30 November 1978. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
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