Bernard Allen (Irish politician)

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For other persons named Bernard Allen, see Bernard Allen (disambiguation).

Bernard Allen (Irish: Bernard MacAilon;^[1] born September 9, 1944) is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork North Central and is currently the Fine Gael Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

Bernard Allen was born in Cork City. He was educated at the North Monastery Christian Brothers School and University College Cork where he qualified with a diploma in Chemical Technology. Allen first became involved in politics in 1979 when he was elected to Cork Corporation. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1981 general election as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork North Central constituency and has retained his seat ever since. At the 1987 general election Fine Gael lost power and Allen was appointed Opposition Spokesperson for Health. The following year he became Lord Mayor of Cork. In 1993 Allen became Spokesperson for Social Welfare.

In 1994 Fine Gael returned to government and Taoiseach John Bruton appointed Allen as Minister of State at the Department of Education and the Environment with special responsibility for Youth and Sport. In February 2002 Michael Noonan became leader of the Party and Allen became Spokesperson for Tourism, Sport & Recreation. Following the 2002 general election Allen was one of the few high-profile Fine Gael TDs who were re-elected. Following this he was appointed Opposition Spokesperson for the Environment & Local Government under the new leader Enda Kenny. Following a Fine Gael Front Bench reshuffle in 2004 Allen became Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

[edit] Political career

Oireachtas
Preceded by Newly created constituency	Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Cork North Central 1981 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Brosnan	Lord Mayor of Cork 1988	Succeeded by Chrissie Aherne
Preceded by Frank Fahey	Minister of State at the Department of Education (Minister for Youth & Sport) 1994–1997	Succeeded by Office abolished
Preceded by Newly created office	Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (with responsibility for Local Government Reform and Urban Traffic Management) 1994–1997	Succeeded by Office abolished
Preceded by Gay Mitchell	Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs 2004 – present	Incumbent