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Patrick Cooney
Patrick Cooney
Minister for Education
	In office; 14 February 1986 – 10 March 1987
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Gemma Hussey
Succeeded by	Mary O'Rourke
Minister for Defence
	In office; 14 December 1982 – 14 February 1986
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Paddy Power
Succeeded by	Paddy O'Toole
Minister for Transport
	In office; 30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Albert Reynolds
Succeeded by	John Wilson
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
	In office; 30 June 1981 – 9 March 1982
Taoiseach	Garret FitzGerald
Preceded by	Albert Reynolds
Succeeded by	John Wilson
Minister for Justice
	In office; 14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Desmond O'Malley
Succeeded by	Gerry Collins
Member of the European Parliament
	In office; 1 July 1989 – 24 May 1994
Constituency	Leinster
Teachta Dála
	In office; June 1981 – June 1989
	In office; April 1970 – June 1977
Constituency	Longford–Westmeath
Senator
	In office; 27 October 1977 – 11 June 1981
Constituency	Cultural and Educational Panel
Personal details
Born	2 March 1931 (age 93); Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	Brigid McMenamin (m. 1958)
Children	4
Education	Castleknock College
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Patrick Mark Cooney (born 2 March 1931) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a government minister in the cabinets of Liam Cosgrave (1973–1977) and Garret FitzGerald (1981–1982 and 1982–1987). He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Leinster constituency from 1989 to 1994. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency from 1970 to 1977 and between 1981 and 1989. He also served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1977 to 1981.^[1]

Cooney was born in 1931 and was educated at Castleknock College and University College Dublin, where he completed a BA in 1951 and an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in 1953.^[2] He first stood as a candidate for Dáil Éireann in the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 1961 general election, but failed to win a seat, and he was defeated again in 1965 and 1969. However, after the death of the Fianna Fáil TD Patrick Lenihan, Cooney was elected to the 19th Dáil in the Longford–Westmeath by-election in April 1970.^[3]

After the 1973 general election, a Fine Gael–Labour Party National Coalition government to office, and Cooney was appointed to Liam Cosgrave's cabinet as Minister for Justice. He ordered the coffin of Frank Stagg, an IRA volunteer, to be covered in concrete.^[4] In December 1973, the Supreme Court found in McGee v. The Attorney General that marital privacy was protected by the Constitution of Ireland, including a right to contraception. Cooney proposed the Control of Importation, Sale and Manufacture of Contraceptives Bill 1974, which was defeated in the Dáil on a free vote, with Cosgrave voting against the legislation proposed by a member of his cabinet.^[5]

Cooney was one of a number of cabinet ministers to lose his seat at the 1977 general election, but was subsequently elected to the 14th Seanad as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel. In 1979, at the first direct elections to the European Parliament, he stood unsuccessfully in the Connacht–Ulster constituency.

At the 1981 general election, he was returned to the Dáil again for his old Longford–Westmeath constituency. Under Garret FitzGerald, Cooney served as Minister for Transport and Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from June 1981 to March 1982, as Minister for Defence from December 1982 to February 1986, and as Minister for Education from 1986 to 1987.

He was elected as a MEP for the Leinster constituency at the 1989 European Parliament elections, and did not contest the 1989 general election. He did not stand for re-election in 1994.

References

^ "Patrick Cooney". Oireachtas Members Database. 16 May 1989. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
^ "MEPS – Patrick Mark Cooney". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
^ "Patrick Cooney". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
^ Behind Closed Doors: Cabinet Confidential. RTÉ. 2 January 2007
^ "Control of Importation, Sale and Manufacture of Contraceptives Bill, 1974: Second Stage (Resumed) – Dáil Éireann (20th Dáil) – Vol. 274 No. 7". Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 July 1974. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

Political offices
Preceded by Desmond O'Malley	Minister for Justice 1973–1977	Succeeded by Gerry Collins
Preceded by Albert Reynolds	Minister for Posts and Telegraphs 1981–1982	Succeeded by John Wilson
Preceded by Albert Reynolds	Minister for Transport 1981–1982	Succeeded by John Wilson
Preceded by Paddy Power	Minister for Defence 1982–1986	Succeeded by Paddy O'Toole
Preceded by Gemma Hussey	Minister for Education 1986–1987	Succeeded by Mary O'Rourke