Olivia Mitchell
Olivia Mitchell | |
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Teachta Dála | |
In office June 1997 – February 2016 | |
Constituency | Dublin South |
Personal details | |
Born | (1947-07-31) 31 July 1947 (age 77) Birr, County Offaly, Ireland |
Political party | Fine Gael |
Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
Olivia Mitchell (born 31 July 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1997 to 2016.[1]
Mitchell was born in Birr, County Offaly. She was educated at Dominican College on Eccles Street and at Trinity College Dublin, where she qualified with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics. She was an Economics teacher before entering politics. She first held political office in 1985, when she was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. She was Cathaoirleach (Chair) of the council from 1995 to 1996. She served on the council until 2003. She was an unsuccessful candidate for Dublin South at the 1989 and 1992 general elections.[2]
Mitchell was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin South constituency at the 1997 general election, and was re-elected at the 2002 general election with 5,568 first preferences. She increased this vote significantly at the 2007 general election, polling 9,037 first preferences.[2]
In 2001, she received her first front bench position as Spokesperson for Housing and Local Government. She has also served as Opposition spokesperson for Health and Children (2002–2004). In Enda Kenny's reshuffle in 2004, she took on the Transport portfolio. From 2007 to 2010, she was spokesperson for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
In June 2010, she supported Richard Bruton's leadership challenge to Enda Kenny. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, Mitchell was not re-appointed to the front bench. From October 2010 to March 2011, she was party deputy spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with special responsibility for Competition and Consumer Protection.
In its final report, the Mahon Tribunal's investigation into planning corruption in the Dublin area found Mitchell to have received an inappropriate payment of £500 from Frank Dunlop at the time of the 1992 general election. The Mahon Report found that Mitchell had held meetings with Dunlop and Owen O'Callaghan in relation to the Quarryvale project, and was a supporter of the project. "While the evidence would suggest Cllr Mitchell did not solicit the contribution, she nonetheless accepted it in the knowledge of Mr Dunlop's close association with the project," the report found.[3]
She did not contest the 2016 general election.[4]
References
- ^ "Olivia Mitchell". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Olivia Mitchell". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ "Mitchell among councillors who took payments". Irish Independent. 23 March 2012.
- ^ "Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell confirms she will stand down". The Irish Times. 1 September 2015.
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Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd | 1921 | Thomas Kelly (SF) | Daniel McCarthy (SF) | Constance Markievicz (SF) | Cathal Ó Murchadha (SF) | 4 seats 1921–1923 | |||||||||
3rd | 1922 | Thomas Kelly (PT-SF) | Daniel McCarthy (PT-SF) | William O'Brien (Lab) | Myles Keogh (Ind) | ||||||||||
4th | 1923 | Philip Cosgrave (CnaG) | Daniel McCarthy (CnaG) | Constance Markievicz (Rep) | Cathal Ó Murchadha (Rep) | Michael Hayes (CnaG) | Peadar Doyle (CnaG) | ||||||||
1923 by-election | Hugh Kennedy (CnaG) | ||||||||||||||
March 1924 by-election | James O'Mara (CnaG) | ||||||||||||||
November 1924 by-election | Seán Lemass (SF) | ||||||||||||||
1925 by-election | Thomas Hennessy (CnaG) | ||||||||||||||
5th | 1927 (Jun) | James Beckett (CnaG) | Vincent Rice (NL) | Constance Markievicz (FF) | Thomas Lawlor (Lab) | Seán Lemass (FF) | |||||||||
1927 by-election | Thomas Hennessy (CnaG) | ||||||||||||||
6th | 1927 (Sep) | Robert Briscoe (FF) | Myles Keogh (CnaG) | Frank Kerlin (FF) | |||||||||||
7th | 1932 | James Lynch (FF) | |||||||||||||
8th | 1933 | James McGuire (CnaG) | Thomas Kelly (FF) | ||||||||||||
9th | 1937 | Myles Keogh (FG) | Thomas Lawlor (Lab) | Joseph Hannigan (Ind) | Peadar Doyle (FG) | ||||||||||
10th | 1938 | James Beckett (FG) | James Lynch (FF) | ||||||||||||
1939 by-election | John McCann (FF) | ||||||||||||||
11th | 1943 | Maurice Dockrell (FG) | James Larkin Jnr (Lab) | John McCann (FF) | |||||||||||
12th | 1944 | ||||||||||||||
13th | 1948 | Constituency abolished. See Dublin South-Central, Dublin South-East and Dublin South-West. |
Note that the boundaries of Dublin South from 1981–2016 share no common territory with the 1921–1948 boundaries. See §History and boundaries
Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
22nd | 1981 | Niall Andrews (FF) | Séamus Brennan (FF) | Nuala Fennell (FG) | John Kelly (FG) | Alan Shatter (FG) | |||||
23rd | 1982 (Feb) | ||||||||||
24th | 1982 (Nov) | ||||||||||
25th | 1987 | Tom Kitt (FF) | Anne Colley (PDs) | ||||||||
26th | 1989 | Nuala Fennell (FG) | Roger Garland (GP) | ||||||||
27th | 1992 | Liz O'Donnell (PDs) | Eithne FitzGerald (Lab) | ||||||||
28th | 1997 | Olivia Mitchell (FG) | |||||||||
29th | 2002 | Eamon Ryan (GP) | |||||||||
30th | 2007 | Alan Shatter (FG) | |||||||||
2009 by-election | George Lee (FG) | ||||||||||
31st | 2011 | Shane Ross (Ind) | Peter Mathews (FG) | Alex White (Lab) | |||||||
32nd | 2016 | Constituency abolished. See Dublin Rathdown, Dublin South-West and Dún Laoghaire. |