Neil Blaney
| Neil T. Blaney | |
|---|---|
| Father of the Dáil | |
|
In office 17 February 1987 – 8 November 1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Oliver J. Flanagan |
| Succeeded by |
Paddy Harte Seán Treacy Séamus Pattison |
| Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries | |
|
In office 11 November 1966 – 7 May 1970 |
|
| Taoiseach | Jack Lynch |
| Preceded by | Charles Haughey |
| Succeeded by | Jim Gibbons |
| Minister for Local Government | |
|
In office 27 November 1957 – 10 November 1966 |
|
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Paddy Smith |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Boland |
| Minister for Posts and Telegraphs | |
|
In office 20 March 1957 – 4 December 1957 |
|
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Michael Keyes |
| Succeeded by | John Ormonde |
| Teachta Dála | |
|
In office 7 December 1948 – 8 November 1995 |
|
| Constituency |
Donegal East, Donegal North-East, Donegal |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 October 1922 Rossnakill, Fanad, Donegal, Ireland |
| Died | 8 November 1995 (aged 73) Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party |
Independent Fianna Fáil (1970–1995), Fianna Fáil (until 1970) |
| Spouse(s) | Eva Corduff |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Neil Terence Columba Blaney (1 October 1922 – 8 November 1995) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1948 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) representing Donegal East. Blaney served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (1957), Minister for Local Government (1957–1966) and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries (1966–1970). He was at one time Father of the Dáil.
Neil Blaney was born in 1922 in the rural Fanad Peninsula in the north of County Donegal, in Ireland. The second eldest of a family of eleven, Blaney's father Neal had been a commander of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Donegal during the War of Independence and the Civil War. He served as both a TD and as a Senator between 1927 and 1948. It was from his father that Blaney got his strong republican views and his first introduction to politics. He was educated locally at Tamney on the rugged Fanad Peninsula and later attended Saint Eunan's College in Letterkenny as a boarder. Blaney later worked as an organiser with the Irish National Vintners and Grocers Association.
Blaney was first elected to Dáil Éireann for the Donegal East constituency in a by-election in December 1948, following the death of his father from cancer. He also became a member of Donegal County Council. Upon his election Blaney was the youngest member of the Dáil. He remained on the backbenches for a number of years before he was one of a group of young party members handpicked by Seán Lemass to begin a re-organisation drive for the party following the defeat at the 1954 general election. Within the party Blaney gained fame by running the party's by-election campaigns throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He introduced the concept of cavalcades after his election victories in his constituency together with roadside bonfires. At the time this was an alien political concept in Ireland. Blaney also adopted wearing sunglasses, chewing gum and wearing bright ties and colourful suits. His dedicated bands of supporters earned the sobriquet 'the Donegal Mafia', and succeeded in getting Des O'Malley and Gerry Collins elected to the Dáil.
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