Fergus Finlay

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Fergus Finlay was for some years the chef de cabinet of the Irish Labour Party, to whom he remains a senior advisor, and is the chief executive of the charity Barnardo's in Ireland. He is also a weekly columnist with the Irish Examiner and the author of a number of books.

Having worked in government press secretarial roles in the 1980s, Finlay served as an adviser to Dick Spring from 1983 to 1997. During this time he was involved in campaigns that led to the election of Mary Robinson as president, a large increase in the number of Labour Teachta Dálas in 1992 and the dropping of the constitutional ban on divorce in 1996. He resigned from Labour in 1997, becoming a director of Wilson Hartnell Public Relations, heading the company's public affairs unit.

Finlay is also credited and helped to organise the visit of the Special Olympics to Ireland.