Richard Bruton
Encyclopedia
Richard Bruton is an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 politician and has been a Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for the Dublin North Central
Dublin North Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin North–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies...

 constituency since 1982. He was appointed as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on 9 March 2011. He previously served as Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1994 to 1997, and he was the Fine Gael spokesperson on Finance and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2010.

Early and private life

Richard Bruton was born in Dublin, and grew up in Dunboyne
Dunboyne
Dunboyne is a town in County Meath in Ireland. For the most part, it is a dormitory town for the city of Dublin.-Location:Dunboyne is centred on the crossroads formed by the R156 regional road and the old Maynooth Road ....

, County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

. He is the son of Joseph and Doris Bruton. He was educated at Belvedere College
Belvedere College
Belvedere College SJ is a private secondary school for boys located on Great Denmark Street, Dublin, Ireland. It is also known as St. Francis Xavier's College....

, Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College is a voluntary secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the...

, University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

 and Nuffield College
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...

, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. At Oxford he graduated with a MPhil
Master of Philosophy
The Master of Philosophy is a postgraduate research degree.An M.Phil. is a lesser degree than a Doctor of Philosophy , but in many cases it is considered to be a more senior degree than a taught Master's degree, as it is often a thesis-only degree. In some instances, an M.Phil...

 in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

, his thesis being on the subject of Irish public debt. He is a Research Economist by profession, and after university he worked at the Economic and Social Research Institute
Economic and Social Research Institute
The Economic and Social Research Institute is a think tank in Dublin, Ireland. Its research focuses on Ireland's economic and social development in order to inform policy-making and societal understanding....

. This was followed by two years in the tobacco company P.J. Carroll before moving on to his final private sector job at CRH
CRH plc
CRH plc, , is an Irish building material group, formerly called Cement-Roadstone Holdings plc. It is quoted on the Official Lists of the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange.-History:...

.

He is the younger brother of John Bruton
John Bruton
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...

 – former Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 and EU Ambassador to the United States
European Union Ambassador
Below are current ambassadors of the European Union to third countries and international organisations. They are also known as delegation heads or envoys.-Current ambassadors:-Ambassadors to international organisations:-See also:...

.

Bruton is married to Susan Meehan and they have four children, two sons and two daughters.

Political career

Bruton was elected to Meath County Council
Meath County Council
Meath County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Meath in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and the environment. The head of the council has the title of...

 in 1979 and was elected Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...

 in 1981 on the Agricultural Panel. At the February 1982 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 as a Fine Gael TD. From 1986 to 1987 he served as Minister of State
Minister of State (Ireland)
A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-Cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland....

 at the Department of Industry and Commerce. He was then appointed Opposition Spokesperson for Enterprise and Employment.

After the 1992 general election
Irish general election, 1992
The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. However, after difficulties in forming a government the newly elected 166 members of the 27th Dáil did not assemble at Leinster House until 4 January 1993...

, Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 and the Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

 formed a coalition government, which collapsed in 1994. Bruton then helped to negotiate the Rainbow Coalition between Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left
Democratic Left (Ireland)
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party active in Ireland between 1992 and 1999. It came into being after a split in the Workers' Party and, after just seven years in existence, it merged into the Irish Labour Party.-Origins:...

. In that government his brother, John Bruton
John Bruton
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...

, became Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

. Richard Bruton took the highest ranking Fine Gael ministerial position, serving as Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

2002 Fine Gael leadership election

Among Fine Gael's disastrous results at the 2002 general election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...

, Bruton was one of the few front bench Fine Gael TDs to retain his seat. In all, the party lost 23 of its 54 seats, and leader Michael Noonan
Michael Noonan
Michael Noonan is an Irish Fine Gael politician and has been the Minister for Finance since March 2011. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Limerick East and later Limerick City constituencies since 1981....

 resigned. Bruton stood as a candidate in the subsequent leadership election
Fine Gael leadership election, 2002
The 2002 Fine Gael leadership election began in May 2002, when Michael Noonan resigned as party leader due to the party's poor performance in the 2002 general election. Noonan had only been party leader for little over fifteen months. His successor was elected by the members of the Fine Gael...

. He was defeated by Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...

 but instead was appointed Deputy Leader of Fine Gael. He was also appointed the party spokesperson for Finance
Minister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...

, a post he maintained until 2010.

2010 Fine Gael leadership challenge

On 14 June 2010, Bruton was sacked as Deputy Leader and spokesperson on Finance by his leader Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...

 after he informed his colleagues that he would be proposing a leadership challenge against Kenny. Kenny explained that he and Bruton had had a series of discussions in which Bruton said he had lost confidence in him. Kenny later told the media that "Richard's decision leaves me with no option but to relieve him of all his responsibilities". He also said that "some unnamed people have done huge damage to Fine Gael through their anonymous comments to the media which has resulted in an opinion poll dominating the news agenda". He then assigned responsibility for the Finance portfolio to Deputy Kieran O'Donnell
Kieran O'Donnell
Kieran O'Donnell is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Limerick City constituency.Before becoming a full-time public representative, O'Donnell worked as an accountant. He is nephew of former Minister and TD for Limerick East Tom O'Donnell.O'Donnell was an...

.

Before Bruton's sacking, Fergus O'Dowd
Fergus O'Dowd
Fergus O'Dowd is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Louth constituency, and the Minister of State for the NewEra Project....

 from County Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

 came out as a supporter of Bruton and he was the first person to do so. Nine members of the front bench publicly expressed no confidence in his leadership. These included senior politicians such as Leo Varadkar
Leo Varadkar
Leo Varadkar is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency since June 2007. He is currently the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, being appointed on 9 March 2011....

, Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála for Cork South Central since 1998. In March 2011 he became Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Enda Kenny's coalition government....

, Brian Hayes
Brian Hayes (politician)
Brian Hayes is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South West constituency and also the Minister of State at the Department of Finance.-Early life:...

 and Olivia Mitchell
Olivia Mitchell
Olivia Mitchell is an Irish Fine Gael politician. She has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South constituency since 1997....

.

On 17 June 2010, a meeting of the parliamentary party was held and the 70 members cast their vote. The outcome was that the parliamentary party voted confidence in Enda Kenny as leader. Bruton then declined to comment as to whether he would serve in Kenny's front bench despite saying before that it would be hypocritical to do so. On 1 July 2010, he was appointed by Kenny as party spokesperson on Enterprise, Jobs and Economic Planning.

On 14 June 2010, party leader Enda Kenny removed him following a leadership challenge. He was subsequently appointed party spokesperson on Enterprise, Jobs and Economic Planning

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

He was appointed as by the Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 Enda Kenny as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on 9 March 2011.

External links

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