Flor Crowley

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Florence "Flor" Crowley (27 December 1934 – 16 May 1997) was a Fianna Fáil politician from West Cork in Ireland. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for thirteen years, and a senator for five years.[1]

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[edit] Family

An auctioneer from Bandon, Crowley was an accomplished rugby player in his youth. He and his wife Sally had six children.[2] Their son Brian (born 1964) is a former Fianna Fáil senator, and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1994.[3]

[edit] Political career

stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Dáil Éireann in the Cork Mid constituency at a by-election in March 1965, but won the seat at the 1965 general election in April. After boundary changes for the 1969 general election, he was re-elected in the new Cork South West constituency, and held the seat at the 1973 general election.[4] Meanwhile, he had been elected in 1967 as a member of both Cork City Council and Cork County Council, and after the 1971 local elections had remained a member only of the County Council.[5]

He lost his seat at the 1977 general election. Fianna Fáil won a landslide victory, but it had fielded three candidates in Cork South West and won only one seat. Crowley, the sitting TD, was beaten by his party colleague Joe Walsh. He was then elected to the 14th Seanad Éireann on the Cultural and Educational Panel, and at the 1981 general he regained his Dáil seat from Walsh.[4] Walsh retook the seat at the February 1992 general election, following which Crowley stood in the Seanad elections on the Cultural and Educational Panel. However, he did not win a seat; at the time Fianna Fáil was deeply divided between supporters and opponents of its leader Charles Haughey, and the Haughey-supporting Crowley was beaten by another Fianna Fáil candidate, Séamus de Brún, who had previously been nominated by the then-Taoiseach, Jack Lynch to the 14th Seanad.[6] Crowley was then nominated by Haughey to the 16th Seanad.[5]

Crowley did not contest the November 1982 general election. In the subsequent February 1983 Seanad elections, he stood as a candidate on the Administrative Panel, but did not win a seat.[7]

[edit] Death

Crowley died suddenly at his home in Bandon on 16 May 1997, aged 62.[2][8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mr. Flor Crowley. Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  2. ^ a b Death of Mr Flor Crowley. The Irish Times (17 May 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  3. ^ Brian Crowley's electoral history. ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  4. ^ a b Flor Crowley's electoral history. ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  5. ^ a b "Taoiseach's nominees to the Senate", The Irish Times, 11 May 1982, p. 6. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  6. ^ Denis Coghlan. "Senate defeat for Flor Crowley", The Irish Times, 22 April 1982, p. 1. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  7. ^ "Senate results", The Irish Times, 2 March 1983, p. 6. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  8. ^ Ahern praises Flor Crowley. The Irish Times (19 May 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.

[edit] See also