Síle de Valera
| Síle de Valera | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands | |
|
In office 26 June 1997 – 6 June 2002 |
|
| Taoiseach | Bertie Ahern |
| Preceded by | Michael D. Higgins |
| Succeeded by | Éamon Ó Cuív |
| Teachta Dála | |
|
In office February 1987 – May 2007 |
|
| Constituency | Clare |
|
In office June 1977 – June 1981 |
|
| Constituency | Dublin County Mid |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
|
In office June 1979 – June 1984 |
|
| Constituency | Dublin |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 December 1954 Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Síle de Valera (Irish pronunciation: [ˈʃiːlʲə ˌdɛvəˈlɛrə]) (born 17 December 1954) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. She was first elected a Teachta Dála (TD) in 1977 serving as a member of Dáil Éireann until 1981, and then again from 1987 to 2007, as well as being a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Dublin from 1979 to 1984. She served as Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands from 1997 to 2002.
Síle de Valera was born in 1954 in Dublin, Ireland. She was educated at Loreto College in Foxrock and at University College Dublin where she qualified as a career guidance teacher. Síle de Valera comes from a famous political family. She is the granddaughter of Éamon de Valera, founder of Fianna Fáil, Taoiseach and third President of Ireland. She is a niece of the former TD Vivion de Valera and is a first cousin of the former Minister for Social Protection, Éamon Ó Cuív.
She was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the Fianna Fáil landslide victory at the 1977 general election. She was elected for the Dublin County Mid constituency, which included the Tallaght area of County Dublin, being the youngest TD elected at that election. In June 1979 she was elected to the European Parliament for a five-year term. Later that year, she was one of the Fianna Fáil TDs who criticised the policies of Taoiseach Jack Lynch in relation to Northern Ireland and was a prominent supporter of Charles Haughey, who succeeded him as Taoiseach in December 1979. She was highly critical of Margaret Thatcher and became a noted supporter of the Anti H-Block movement. She called on nationalists to vote for Bobby Sands in the 1981 by-election which he won. She also called on Fianna Fáil voters to give preference votes for Anti H-Block candidates in the 1981 Election, a comment which caused controversy.
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