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Nuala Fennell
Nuala Fennell
	Fennell in 1983
Minister of State
1983–1987	Justice
1982–1987	Taoiseach
Teachta Dála
	In office; June 1989 – November 1992
	In office; June 1981 – February 1987
Constituency	Dublin South
Senator
	In office; 25 April 1987 – 15 June 1989
Constituency	Labour Panel
	In office; 20 February 1987 – 25 April 1987
Constituency	Nominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born	Fionnuala Campbell; 25 November 1935; Dublin, Ireland
Died	11 August 2009 (aged 73); Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	Brian Fennell (m. 1958)
Children	3
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin

Nuala Fennell (née Campbell; 25 November 1935 – 11 August 2009) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and activist who served as Minister of State from December 1982 to January 1987 with responsibility for Women's Affairs and Family Law. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South from 1981 to 1987 and 1989 to 1992. She also served as a Senator from 1987 to 1989.^[1]

Early life

Born Fionnuala Campbell in north County Dublin on 25 November 1935, the third eldest child of Patrick Campbell, from the rural east County Galway area of Lisheennavannoge, one of the earliest Garda recruits, and his wife Elizabeth (née Roberts), from Glasnevin, Dublin. Fennell had two sisters and three brothers.^[2] She met her future husband, Brian Fennell, at the Templeogue Tennis Club, and they emigrated in 1957 to Montreal, Canada, where they were both employed by the Sun Life Company. The couple returned to Dublin and were married in 1958. Fennell took up secretarial employment in a legal firm in Dublin, at a time when married women were frowned upon for working. The couple had three children.^[2]

Activist

Fennell was a leading Women's Rights campaigner in the 1970s when she was part of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, from which she resigned due to differences of policy in 1971.^[3] Fennell was involved in setting up the first refuge for "battered women" in Dublin.^[4] She was involved in the 1975 campaign for the right to divorce in Ireland.^[5] In 1972, she helped found Action, Information and Motivation (AIM), a pressure group campaigning for women's equality in marriage.^[2] In 1975, Fennell also became an executive member of the Council for the Status of Women.^[2]

Politics

At the 1977 general election, Fennell stood as an independent candidate for the Dublin County South constituency, but was not elected.^[2] She was elected at the 1981 general election to the 22nd Dáil, as a Fine Gael TD for Dublin South.^[4] After the election, Fine Gael entered into a coalition government with the Labour Party, and Fennell was a prominent Fine Gael backbencher.

Fianna Fáil formed a short-lived following the February 1982 election, but Fine Gael was returned to office later that year following the November 1982 election and Fennell was appointed Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and Minister of State at the Department of Justice, with responsibly for Women's Affairs and Family Law.^[6]^[7]^[4]^[8]

She lost her seat at the 1987 general election, and was nominated by the Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald to the 17th Seanad, in his last days serving as Taoiseach. She was then elected to the 18th Seanad on the Labour Panel. At the 1989 general election, she was returned to the 26th Dáil, but retired from politics at the 1992 general election.^[9]

References

^ "Former minister Nuala Fennell dies". RTÉ News. 11 August 2009. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Tiernan, Sonja. "Fennell, Nuala". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^ Fennell, Nuala (2002). "Irish Women's Liberation Movement". The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. Vol. 5. New York University Press. p. 202. ISBN 0814799078.
^ ^a ^b ^c Stephen Collins (11 August 2009). "Former minister Nuala Fennell dies". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
^ "The Image of Divorce in Ireland". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
^ "Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 16 December 1982". Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 December 1982. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^ "Appointment of Minister of State and Allocation of Responsibilities: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Wednesday, 26 January 1983". Houses of the Oireachtas. 26 January 1983. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^ "Nuala Fennell". Oireachtas Members Database. 27 October 1992. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
^ "Nuala Fennell". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2009.