John Bruton

Oliver Coogan notes in his Politics and War in Meath 1913–23 that Bruton's grand-uncle was one of the farmers in south Meath who prevented the traditionally Anglo-Irish ascendency hunt from proceeding in the area during the Irish War of Independence.

Bruton later went on to study at University College Dublin (UCD), where he received an honours Bachelor of Arts degree and qualified as a barrister from King's Inns, but never went on to practice law.

John Gerard Bruton (18 May 1947 – 6 February 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001.

He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Meath from 1969 to 2004.

During his term as Taoiseach, he led a Fine Gael–Labour–Democratic Left coalition, known as the Rainbow Coalition.

Bruton was narrowly elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1969 general election, as a Fine Gael TD for Meath.

At the age of 22, he was one of the youngest ever members of the Dáil at that time.

He more than doubled his vote in the 1973 general election, which brought Fine Gael to power as part of the National Coalition with the Labour Party.

Bruton was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and to the Minister for Education, in the National Coalition in 1973.

He remained in office until 1977.

Following Fine Gael's defeat at the 1977 general election, the new leader, Garret FitzGerald, appointed Bruton to the front bench as Spokesperson on Agriculture.

In 1978, Bruton married Finola Gill; and they had four children.

He was later promoted as Spokesperson for Finance, making a particularly effective speech in the Dáil in response to the budget of 1980.

He held cabinet positions between 1981‍ and 1987, including twice as minister for finance.

He played a prominent role in Fine Gael's campaign in the 1981 general election, which resulted in another coalition with the Labour Party, with FitzGerald as Taoiseach.

Bruton received a personal vote in Meath of nearly 23%, and at the age of only 34 was appointed Minister for Finance, the most senior position in the cabinet.

In light of overwhelming economic realities, the government abandoned its election promises to cut taxes.

The government collapsed unexpectedly on the night of 27 January 1982, when Bruton's budget was defeated in the Dáil.

The previously supportive Independent Socialist TD Jim Kemmy, voted against the budget, which proposed among other things the introduction of VAT on children's shoes.

FitzGerald sought a dissolution of the Dáil, which was granted by the president.

The minority Fianna Fáil government which followed only lasted until November 1982, when Fine Gael once again returned to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party, but when the new government was formed, Bruton was moved from Finance to become Minister for Industry and Energy.

Fine Gael had been in decline for nearly a decade; from the high point of the November 1982 general election when it achieved 70 seats in Dáil Éireann (only five seats short of Fianna Fáil's total).

After a reconfiguration of government departments in 1983, Bruton became Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism.

In a cabinet reshuffle in February 1986, Bruton was appointed again as Minister for Finance.

Although he was minister for finance, Bruton never presented his budget.

The Labour Party withdrew from the government due to a disagreement over his budget proposals leading to the collapse of the government and another election.

Following the 1987 general election Fine Gael suffered a heavy defeat.

Garret FitzGerald resigned as leader immediately, and a leadership contest ensued between Alan Dukes, Peter Barry and Bruton himself.

The exact result of the vote was not published.

This was a blow to Bruton as the victor, Dukes, had been a TD for 12 years fewer than him.

Bruton was on Fine Gael's right-wing, whereas Dukes was in FitzGerald's social democratic and liberal mould.

Dukes was perceived to be a lacklustre leader, however, who alienated his party's TDs and Senators and made little progress in recovering the ground lost by Fine Gael in 1987.

His Tallaght Strategy where he stated that he would support Fianna Fáil on economic reforms was also unpopular.

He was Leader of the Opposition from 1990 to 1994 and 1997 to 2001.

The disastrous performance in the 1990 presidential election, in which the party finished in a humiliating and then unprecedented third in a national election, proved to be the final straw for the party and Dukes was forced to resign as leader shortly after.

Bruton, who was the deputy leader of Fine Gael at the time, was unopposed in the ensuing leadership election.

Whereas Dukes came from the social democratic wing of Fine Gael, Bruton came from the more conservative wing.

However to the surprise of critics and of conservatives, in his first policy initiative he called for a referendum on a Constitutional amendment permitting the enactment of legislation allowing for divorce in Ireland.

After stepping down as a TD, he accepted an offer to become European Union Ambassador to the United States, serving from 2004 to 2009.

John Gerard Bruton was born to a wealthy, Catholic farming family in Dunboyne, County Meath, and educated at Clongowes Wood College.