Ivan Yates

Ivan Yates
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry
In office 15 December 1994 – 26 June 1997
Preceded by	Joe Walsh
Succeeded by	Joe Walsh
Personal details
Born	23 October 1959 (1959-10-23) Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fine Gael

Ivan Yates (born 23 October 1959) is an Irish businessman, broadcaster and former politician. He was elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) representing the Wexford constituency at the 1981 general election and at each election until his retirement from politics in 2002. He has also served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997.

Early life

Yates was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. He is a member of the Church of Ireland and was educated at St. Columba's College, Rathfarnham and Gurteen Agricultural College, County Tipperary.

Political career

Aged only 21 years and 8 months, when first elected in 1981, Yates was the youngest member of the 22nd Dáil and is also the fourth youngest ever member of Dáil Éireann after William J. Murphy, Lorcan Allen and Kathleen O'Connor. He became involved in local politics when he became a member of Wexford County Council, serving until 1995 and again since 1999. He joined the Fine Gael front bench in 1988 and was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when the party came to power in 1994.

Yates oversaw a particularly difficult period for Irish agriculture. Farmers saw the prices they received for their produce plummet, he stopped live animal exports in response to controversy over cruelty in shipping and took on the veterinary union over the tuberculosis eradication scheme. He also had to deal with a sharp rise in the number of BSE cases during 1996 and the consequent banning of Irish beef by Russia. When John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael in January 2001, there was much speculation that Yates would be a contender for the vacant position. Instead, he announced to his colleagues that he was leaving full-time politics to concentrate on his family and business interests and that he would not be contesting the next general election.

He receives annual pension payments of €74,836 from his time in politics.

Business career

Yates is the chairman and managing director of Celtic Bookmakers, an Irish chain of betting shops, and expanded the company from its Wexford base to a chain of 64 shops around the country at its peak. It was announced on 4 January 2011 that the company had gone into receivership.

Yates' leadership has been very much in evidence in the bookmaking industry. He has been heading a group of bookmakers in a court case against the British Horseracing Board (BHB) over data rights. Although the issue has yet to be resolved in the Irish courts, UK bookmaker William Hill has already defeated the BHB on this issue in the Court of Appeal and the European Court of Justice. Yates is hoping that the court will also force the BHB to pay back the £15m a year that Irish bookmakers have been paying the BHB for data rights since 2002.

Yeates in 2011 described the Irish bankruptcy regime as "purgatory" and publicly announced that he was contemplating moving to the UK to avail of its bankruptcy regime.

Media work

Ivan Yates has co-presented the Newstalk breakfast show, firstly with Claire Byrne and subsequently with Chris Donoghue, since 2009. Yates has also presented Tonight with Vincent Browne on TV3 during summer 2011.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Joe Walsh	Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry 1994–1997	Succeeded by Joe Walsh