Pádraig Faulkner

Pádraig Faulkner
Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann
In office 16 October 1980 – 30 June 1981
President	Patrick Hillery
Preceded by	Joseph Brennan
Succeeded by	John O'Connell
Minister for Defence
In office 12 December 1979 – 15 October 1980
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch Charles Haughey
Preceded by	Bobby Molloy
Succeeded by	Sylvester Barrett
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
In office 5 July 1977 – 11 December 1979
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Conor Cruise O'Brien
Succeeded by	Albert Reynolds
Minister for Tourism and Transport
In office 5 July 1977 – 11 December 1979
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Tom Fitzpatrick
Succeeded by	George Colley
Minister for Education
In office 2 July 1969 – 14 March 1973
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Brian Lenihan
Succeeded by	Richard Burke
Minister for the Gaeltacht
In office 27 March 1968 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Micheál Ó Móráin
Succeeded by	George Colley
Minister for Lands
In office 27 March 1968 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Micheál Ó Móráin
Succeeded by	Seán Flanagan
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht
In office 21 April 1965 – 27 March 1968
Taoiseach	Seán Lemass Jack Lynch
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Teachta Dála
In office 20 March 1957 – 20 January 1987
Constituency	Louth
Personal details
Born	(1918-03-12)12 March 1918 Dundalk, Louth, Ireland
Died	1 June 2012(2012-06-01) (aged 94) Drogheda, Louth, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Occupation	National school teacher

Pádraig Faulkner (12 March 1918 – 1 June 2012) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected in 1957 as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency, serving until 1987. Faulkner also served as Minister for Lands, Minister for the Gaeltacht, Minister for Education, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Minister for Tourism and Transport, Minister for Defence and Ceann Comhairle.

Faulkner was born in Dundalk, County Louth, in 1918. He was educated at Dundalk CBS and St Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra, Dublin, where he qualified as a national school teacher. Faulkner grew up in Dunleer in South Louth, where his father was a strong supporter of Fine Gael, while his mother supported the more Republican Fianna Fáil party. He favoured his mother's political outlook, and joined Fianna Fáil. Faulkner unsuccessfully contested the Louth by-election in 1954 but at the 1957 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann.

In 1965 Faulkner was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht by the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass. He was appointed to the Cabinet by the new Taoiseach Jack Lynch in 1968, and served in every Fianna Fáil-led government until 1980. During the Arms Crisis he was a Lynch loyalist. He was one of a number of senior TDs who organised the assembly of TDs and Senators in Dublin Airport to welcome Lynch home from the United States after the defendants had been found not guilty at the Arms Trial. Nine years later in 1979 one of those defendants, Charles Haughey, was elected Taoiseach. Faulkner was retained in the Cabinet until 1980 when he was elected Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

Following the election of a new Ceann Comhairle immediately after the 1981 general election, he retired to the backbenches before retiring completely from politics at the 1987 general election. In a Dáil career that spanned thirty years, his most notable achievements include the introduction of the legislation to establish two commercial semi-State companies, An Post and Telecom Éireann. Faulkner was subsequently appointed to the Council of State by President Patrick Hillery in 1990.

He died at the age of 94 on 1 June 2012.