Ted Nealon (born 1 November 1929) is a former 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 journalist. He was first 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...

 at the 1981 general election

Irish general election, 1981

The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

 as 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 Sligo-Leitrim

Sligo-Leitrim (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Sligo–Leitrim was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1948 to 2007...

, and was re-elected at each subsequent general election until he retired from politics at the 1997 general election

Irish general election, 1997

The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

.

He served as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1982 in the Fine Gael–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...

 government of the 22nd Dáil. After the November 1982 general election, another Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition was returned to office in the 24th Dáil under 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...

 Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...

. In February 1983, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, officially styled as the Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip, is the Chief Whip of the Government of Ireland and is the most senior Minister of State...

 (with responsibilities for Arts and Culture). He was also Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Ireland)

The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was a senior post in the government of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland from 1924 to 1984, when the post and the department was abolished....

, subsequently becoming Minister of State at the Department of Communications when the department was re-named.

He is also well known as the editor and compiler of Nealon's Guide to the Dáil. This book comes out after every general election and is regarded as the 'bible' of political statistics and information.

Prior to going into politics, Nealon was a well-known current affairs presenter on RTÉ

RTÉ One

RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

. He won a Jacob's Award

Jacob's Awards

The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients were selected by Ireland's national newspaper television...

 for his hosting of the TV coverage of the 1973 Irish general election

Irish general election, 1973

The Irish general election of 1973 was held on 28 February 1973. The newly elected 144 members of the 20th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 4 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

results.