Neil Blaney

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Neil Blaney (October 1, 1922 – November 8, 1995), was a senior Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1948 as a Fianna Fáil TD representing Donegal North East. Blaney served as Minister for Posts & Telegraphs (1957), Minister for Local Government (1957–1966) and Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries (1966–1970). He is a former Father of the Dáil.

Blaney was born in County Donegal, the eldest in a family of eleven children. His father, Neal Blaney, was a farmer and TD who fought with the Irish Republican Army in the Anglo-Irish War, and took the anti-Anglo-Irish Treaty side in the Irish Civil War. Blaney was educated in Tamney, on the Fanad peninsula, and in Letterkenny.

He was elected Fianna Fáil TD for Donegal East in a by-election on 7th December 1948, caused by the death of his father, Fianna Fáil TD. He was re-elected at every subsequent general election until his death in 1995.

Blaney was appointed Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in 1957. Between 1958 and 1966 he served as Minister for Local Government. In 1963 he introduced the Planning Act. In 1966 Blaney entered the Fianna Fáil leadership election in an attempt to succeed Sean Lemass as party leader and Taoiseach. However, he withdrew from the race in favour of the eventual victor, Jack Lynch. In 1967 he became Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

In 1969 when conflict broke out in Northern Ireland he expressed extremely strong nationalist views (which contradicted the policy of the government), in support of northern nationalists. As with many Irish Nationalists, he was unable and/or unwilling to accept the fact that unionists have a British and non-Irish identity. He used sophistry in his arguments for a united Ireland, claiming that the fact that Ireland was partioned against the will of both regions was a reason for reunification under the Republic of Ireland´s terms, ignoring the fact that unionists were against partition for a continuation of the then status quo. In 1970 he became embroiled in the Arms Crisis, a scandal in which he was accused of importing arms into the country with the aid of a former Nazi collaborator ^[1]. On 5 May he was dismissed from the government along with Charles Haughey. In the trial which followed all the accused were acquitted. Blaney was expelled from Fianna Fáil in 1971.

He continued to stand for election as an Independent Fianna Fáil candidate following his expulsion. He still supported the idea of a United Ireland. From 1979–1984 and from 1989–1994 he served as a Member of the European Parliament. He canvassed for IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, in which Sands was elected to Westminster.

He held his Dáil seat until his death from cancer at the age of 73 on November 8, 1995, in Dublin.

In the resulting by-election on April 2, 1996 the Fianna Fáil candidate reclaimed the seat. However, Blaney's brother, Harry Blaney was elected as an Independent Fianna Fáil TD in the 1997 election. He was replaced by his son, Niall Blaney, who was elected in the 2002 election.

[edit] Political career

Political offices
Preceded by Michael Keyes	Minister for Posts & Telegraphs 1957	Succeeded by John Ormonde
Preceded by Paddy Smith	Minister for Local Government 1957–1966	Succeeded by Kevin Boland
Preceded by Joseph Brennan	Minister for Agriculture 1966–1970	Succeeded by Jim Gibbons
Preceded by Oliver J. Flanagan	Father of the Dáil 1987–1995	Succeeded by Séamus Pattison