Gay Mitchell
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Gay Mitchell MEP
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office June 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Mary Banotti |
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| Constituency | Dublin |
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| In office June 1981 – May 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Newly created seat |
| Succeeded by | Catherine Byrne |
| Constituency | Dublin South Central |
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| Born | 30 December 1951 Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fine Gael / European People's Party |
| Alma mater | Dublin Institute of Technology Queen's University Belfast |
| Website | Official website |
(Gabriel) Gay Mitchell (born 30 December 1951) is an Irish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency since 2004. He is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party, and a former Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South Central from 1981–2007.[1]
Gay Mitchell was born in Inchicore, Dublin in 1951. He was educated at St. Michael's Congregation of Christian Brothers, Emmet Road Vocational School, Dublin Institute of Technology College of Commerce and Queen's University Belfast.
Mitchell first became involved in politics in 1979 as a member of Dublin City Council. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as Fine Gael TD at the 1981 general election for the Dublin South Central constituency.[2] Since then he has served as a Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European Affairs. He was the Irish Representative on the Reflection Group which prepared the Amsterdam Treaty.
Mitchell is also a former Lord Mayor of Dublin and, while never holding full cabinet rank, has served on the opposition front bench as spokesperson on Health (2000–2002), Foreign Affairs (1997–2000), Justice (1993–1994), Public Service and Constitutional Reform (1991–1992), Tourism and Transport (1989–1991), European Integration (1988–1989), Urban Renewal (1987–1988) and Health Board Reform (1981–1982).
Following Michael Noonan's resignation as Fine Gael leader in 2002, Mitchell was a challenger in the subsequent leadership election, losing out to the victor, Enda Kenny. Before his election to the European Parliament, Mitchell had been party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, writing the party's "Beyond Neutrality" policy document. In November 2006, Mitchell announced that he had taken the difficult decision not to contest the 2007 general election and concentrate on his European seat.[3]
Mitchell is a Vice Chair of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
His late brother Jim Mitchell was a long-serving Fine Gael TD and former government minister.
During the 2008 referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, Mitchell supported the Yes campaign and was Fine Gael's director of elections for the referendum.
[edit] References
- ^ "Mr. Gay Mitchell". Oireachtas Members Database. http://oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=22&MemberID=762&ConstID=91. Retrieved on 9 May 2009.
- ^ "Gay Mitchell". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3449. Retrieved on 9 May 2009.
- ^ "Fox & Mitchell not standing in election". RTÉ News. 24 November 2006. http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1124/tds.html.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Gay Mitchell's page on the Fine Gael website
- Gay Mitchell's page on the European Parliament website
- Gay Mitchell's profile on MiCandidate
