Patrick Cooney

Patrick (Paddy) Cooney (born March 2, 1931) was a senior Irish politician. He was unsuccessful in his first three attempts to get elected to Dáil Éireann in 1961, 1965 and 1969. However, in 1973 he was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Longford-Westmeath. On his first day in the Dáil he was appointed to Liam Cosgrave's Cabinet. In spite of being a high-profile Cabinet Minister he lost his seat in 1977 but was re-elected again in 1981. Cooney then held a number of positions in Garret FitzGerald's governments. He held his Dáil seat until 1989 when he was elected to the European Parliament.