Gene Fitzgerald

Eugene (Gene) Fitzgerald (21 August 1932 – 14 December 2007) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and company director. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and also served as Minister for Labour and Minister for Finance.

Gene Fitzgerald was born in Crookstown, County Cork in August 1932. He was educated nearby in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College. Fitzgerald was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election in 1972. He remained as a Fianna Fáil TD for the constituency of Cork South–Central for 15 years. He was also involved in local politics, serving as a member of Cork County Council from 1974 until 1977. Fitzgerald was also Vice-President of the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Fitzgerald was first appointed to the Irish Government in 1977 when he became Minister for Labour under Jack Lynch. He backed George Colley in the 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership election but retained his office under the eventual victor, Charles Haughey. His appointment as Minister for Finance in 1980 caused some political commentators to be taken aback, particularly because of his political inexperience and also Fitzgerald had never been named as a possible Finance Minister. From then on he backed Haughey in the leadership heaves of 1982. In Haughey's second government Fitzgerald returned to the position of Minister for Labour.

Fitzgerald contested the 1984 European election in the Munster constituency and won a seat. He remained a TD until he stood down at the 1987 general election to concentrate on European politics instead of national politics. He was re-elected as an MEP in the 1989 elections. Fitzgerald retired from public office at the 1994 election, although he remained involved in the Fianna Fáil party as a Treasurer and subsequently as Honorary Secretary.