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Brendan Corish

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Brendan Corish
Corish in 1949
Tánaiste
In office
14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave
Preceded byErskine H. Childers
Succeeded byGeorge Colley
Minister for Health
In office
14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave
Preceded byErskine Childers
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
Leader of the Labour Party
In office
2 March 1960 – 26 June 1977
Preceded byWilliam Norton
Succeeded byFrank Cluskey
Minister for Social Welfare
In office
14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave
Preceded byJoseph Brennan
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
In office
2 June 1954 – 20 March 1957
TaoiseachJohn A. Costello
Preceded byJames Ryan
Succeeded byPaddy Smith
Parliamentary Secretary
1948–1951Defence
1948–1951Local Government
Teachta Dála
In office
December 1945 – February 1982
ConstituencyWexford
Personal details
Born(1918-11-19)19 November 1918
Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland
Died17 February 1990(1990-02-17) (aged 71)
Wexford, Ireland
Political partyLabour Party
Spouse
Phyllis Donohoe
​
(m. 1949)​
Children3

Brendan Corish (19 November 1918 – 17 February 1990) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1973 to 1977, Leader of the Labour Party, Minister for Social Welfare from 1954 to 1957 and from 1973 to 1977, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government from 1948 to 1951. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1948 to 1982.[1]

Early and personal life

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He was born at William Street in Wexford town. His father, Richard Corish, a well-known trade union official and Sinn Féin member, had been elected to the Second Dáil shortly after the birth of his son and later joined the Labour Party, serving as a local and national politician until his death in 1945. His mother was Catherine Bergin.

He was educated locally at Wexford CBS[2] and, in his youth, was a member of the 2nd Wexford Scout troop (Scouting Ireland). At the age of nineteen, he joined the clerical staff of Wexford County Council.

He was married to Phyllis, and they had three sons.

He spent several years playing Gaelic football for the Wexford county team.[3]

Political career

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Corish was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party candidate in the Wexford by-election in 1945, necessitated by the death of his father who was the sitting TD.[4] He took a seat on the fractured opposition benches, as Fianna Fáil's grip on power continued.

He retained his seat at the 1948 general election in which Fianna Fáil was returned as the largest party in the Dáil once again.[5] However, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the National Labour Party, Clann na Poblachta, Clann na Talmhan and a number of Independent candidates all came together to form the first inter-party government. Corish was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministers for Defence and Local Government.

When the second inter-party government was formed after the 1954 general election, Corish was appointed Minister for Social Welfare.[6]

In 1960 Corish succeeded William Norton as Labour Party leader.[4] He introduced new policies which made the party more socialist in outlook and described the party program as Christian socialist. Corish considered that the party principles were those endorsed by Pope John XXIII and greatly admired the Pope who he said was "one of the greatest contributors of all changes in Irish attitudes". However, the party moved carefully because 'socialism' was still considered a dirty word in 1960s Ireland. Corish claimed that Ireland would be 'Socialist in the Seventies'. To a certain extent he was right because Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed a coalition government between 1973 and 1977.[4][7][8][9] Corish became Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Social Welfare.[4] A wide range of social security benefits were introduced during Corish's time as a government minister, including a Deserted Wife's Benefit and Unmarried Mother's Allowance, Prisoner's Wife's Allowance, Single Woman's Allowance,[10] and the Supplementary Welfare Allowance, providing supplementary income to individuals and families with low incomes.[11] In 1974, compulsory social insurance was extended to virtually all employees, and that same year short-term social insurance benefits (occupational injury, maternity, unemployment and sickness benefits) became partially index-linked. According to one study, this signalled “an extension in the function of the income maintenance system from basic income support to proportional replacement of market earnings for some groups.”[12] The replacement of the existing flat-rate unemployment benefit with an earnings-related benefit meant that the average unemployment replacement rate went up from about 30% to 60%.[11]

Corish was deeply religious, telling the Dáil in 1953 that "I am an Irishman second, I am a catholic first...if the hierarchy give me any direction with regard to catholic social teaching or catholic moral teaching, I accept without qualification in all respects the teaching of the hierarchy and the church to which I belong".[13]

In 1977, the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave called a general election, and Fianna Fáil was returned to power in a landslide victory. Corish resigned as leader of the Labour Party, having signalled his intent to do so before the election.[4] He was succeeded as party leader by Frank Cluskey.[4] Corish retired from politics completely at the February 1982 general election.

Death

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Brendan Corish died on 17 February 1990 in Wexford at the age of 71.

Works

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References

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  1. ^ "Brendan Corish". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Wexford CBS". Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. ^ "'The propinquity between G.A.A. and politics has always been strong and it is no different in our own county, especially given the present climate.' G.A.A. and politics - the unbreakable bond". The Independent. Ireland. 24 April 2002. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f O'Leary, Cornelius (1979). Irish elections 1918–1977: Parties, voters and proportional representation. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-0898-5.
  5. ^ "Brendan Corish". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  6. ^ Lyons, F.S.L. (1973). Ireland since the famine. Suffolk: Collins / Fontana. pp. 880. ISBN 0-00-633200-5.
  7. ^ The Dynamics of Irish Politics (1989) page 85
  8. ^ Treacy, Matt (2013). The IRA 1956–69: Rethinking the Republic. Manchester University Press.
  9. ^ Policy Analysis in Ireland. Policy Press. 2021. p. 35.
  10. ^ Ideologues, Partisans, and Loyalists Ministers and Policymaking in Parliamentary Cabinets By Despina Alexiadou, 2016, P.181
  11. ^ a b Ideologues, Partisans, and Loyalists Ministers and Policymaking in Parliamentary Cabinets By Despina Alexiadou, 2016, P.121
  12. ^ Flora, Peter (2 November 1986). Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110111316. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2017 – via Google Books., P.274
  13. ^ O'Leary, Michael. "Corish, Brendan". Dictionary of Irish Biography.
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence
1948–1951 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government
1948–1951 		Office abolished
Preceded by Minister for Social Welfare
1954–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Tánaiste
1973–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Health
1973–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Social Welfare
1973–1977
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labour Party
1960–1977 		Succeeded by
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