Richard Burke (politician)

Richard "Dick" Burke (29 March 1932 – 15 March 2016) was a former Irish Fine Gael politician and European Commissioner.

Burke was born in New York in the United States in 1932. He was raised in Tipperary and educated at the Christian Brothers School, Thurles, University College Dublin (UCD) and King's Inns. He worked as a teacher before embarking on a political career. His first political involvement was with the Christian Democrat Party founded by Seán Loftus. However, he soon became a member of Fine Gael, becoming a member of Dublin County Council in 1967. Two years later in 1969 he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time, becoming a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County South. He was immediately appointed Chief Whip by party leader Liam Cosgrave.

In 1973 a new Fine Gael—Labour Party coalition government was formed and Burke was appointed Minister for Education. During that period in power he joined the Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, in voting against the government's own Contraceptives Bill. In 1976 he won an internal cabinet battle with Justin Keating for the nomination as Ireland’s European Commissioner. In that position he succeeded Patrick Hillery who returned to become President of Ireland.

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