Tony Gregory

For the English soccer player, see Tony Gregory (footballer).

Tony Gregory
Teachta Dála
In office February 1982 – January 2009
Constituency	Dublin Central
Dublin City Councillor
In office June 1979 – June 2004
Constituency	North Inner City
Personal details
Born	5 December 1947(1947-12-05) Dublin, Ireland
Died	2 January 2009(2009-01-02) (aged 61) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Sinn Féin (1964–70) Official Sinn Féin (1970–72) IRSP (1974–77) Socialist Labour Party (1977–79)
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Tony Gregory (5 December 1947 – 2 January 2009) was an Irish Independent politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 1982 to 2009.

Early life

Gregory was born in Ballybough in Dublin's Northside, the second child of Anthony Gregory and Ellen Gregory (née Judge). His mother, born in 1904 in Croghan, County Offaly, moved to Dublin to work as a waitress while his father, born in North Strand Dublin, worked as a warehouseman in Dublin Port. The family originally lived in a one room apartment on Charleville Street. The family applied for housing by Dublin Corporation but were denied with an official saying "come back when you have six [children]". The incident left an impresssion on Gregory and he would refer to it in interviews later in life. The family were able to later move to a house on Sackville Gardens near the Royal Canal using money they had saved. Gregory won a Dublin Corporation scholarship to Christian Brothers at O'Connell School. He later went on to University College Dublin (UCD), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree and later a Higher Diploma in Education, funding his degree from summer work at Wall's Ice Cream Factory in Acton, London. Initially working at CBS Synge Street, Gregory later taught at Coláiste Eoin, an Irish language secondary school in Booterstown, where he taught History and French. A number of his students, both at Synge Street and Coláiste Eoin included the future politicians John Crown, Colm Mac Eochaidh, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, the comedian Dara Ó Briain, and musician Liam Ó Maonlaí.

Political career

Sinn Féin and the IRSP

He became involved in republican politics joining Sinn Féin and the IRA in 1964. In UCD he helped found the UCD Republican Club, despite pressure from college authorities, and became involved with the Dublin Housing Action Committee. Within the party, he was a supporter of Wicklow Republican Seamus Costello. Costello, who was a member of Wicklow County Council, emphasised involvement in local politics and was an opponent of absentionism. Gregory sided with the Officials in the 1970 split within Sinn Féin. Despite having a promising future within the party Gregory resigned in 1972 citing frustration with a number of ideological splits within the party. Later on he was approached by his mentor Costello, who has been expelled by Official Sinn Féin, asking him to join his new party, the Irish Republican Socialist Party. He left the party after Costello's assassination in 1977 stating in a Hot Press interview, published after his death, that he had "agreed to join on paper, but had never got involved with the political organisation itself". He was briefly associated with the Socialist Labour Party.

Independent politician

Gregory contested the 1979 local elections for Dublin City Council as a "Dublin Community Independent" candidate. At the February 1982 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as an Independent TD.

Work as a TD

On his election in February 1982 he immediately achieved national prominence through the famous "Gregory Deal", which he negotiated with Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey. In return for supporting Haughey as Taoiseach, Gregory was guaranteed a massive cash injection for his inner-city Dublin constituency, an area beset by poverty and neglect.

The deal was witnessed by ITGWU leader Michael Mullen and all details were made public. The written agreement included commitments to nationalise a 27-acre (110,000 m²) site in Dublin Port and Clondalkin Paper Mills. A total of £4 million was to be allocated to employ 500 extra people in the inner city, while 3,746 jobs were to be created over three years. State funding would be provided to build 440 new houses in the constituency and another 1,600 in the rest of Dublin. The whole deal was worth an estimated £100 million at the time in comparison to the £850,000 deal offered by Garret Fitzgearld (Fitzgerald also insulted Gregory by keeping him waiting for over an hour at Government Buildings before meeting him). Although Gregory was reviled in certain quarters for effectively holding a government to ransom, his uncompromising commitment to the poor was widely admired. Fianna Fáil lost power at the November 1982 general election, and a lot of the promises made in the Gregory Deal were not implemented by the incoming Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition.

He continued to campaign on local issues and issues of social justice, particularly the drugs problem. In 1986, Gregory and Sinn Féin Councillor Christy Burke spent two weeks in Mountjoy Prison arising from protest activities during a campaign in support of Dublin inner city street traders.

Gregory remained a TD from 1982 and, although he never held a Cabinet position, remained one of the country's most recognised Dáil deputies. He always refused to wear a tie in the Dáil chamber stating that many of his constituents could not afford them.

Death

He died on 2 January 2009, aged 61, following a long bout with cancer. Following his death, tributes poured in from politicians from every party, recognising his contribution to Dublin's north inner city. During his funeral politicians from the Labour Party, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were told that although they spoke highly of Gregory following his death, during his time in the Dáil he had been excluded by many of them and that they were not to use his funeral as a "photo opportunity". He was buried on 7 January, with Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins delivering the graveside oration.

By-election

Colleagues of Tony Gregory supported his election agent, Dublin City Councillor Maureen O'Sullivan at the Dublin Central by-election in June 2009. O'Sullivan won the subsequent by-election.

Biography

Tony Gregory: The Biography of a True Irish Political Legend was published in 2011. The biography was written by Robbie Gilligan, and launched by Diarmaid Ferriter. Gregory's brother however criticized the launch event as he was not able to speak at the event.

References

Oireachtas
Preceded by Alice Glenn (Fine Gael)	Independent Teachta Dála for Dublin Central 1982–2009	Succeeded by Maureen O'Sullivan (Independent)