Myra Barry (born 30 June 1957) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician. A national school teacher by profession, she trained at St Patrick's College, Dublin.[1] She was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) in a by-election in 1979 for the Cork North-East constituency, following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Seán Brosnan.[1] It was one of two by-elections in County Cork on the same day, both of which Fianna Fáil lost.[2][3] The double defeat in Jack Lynch's native county was a factor in Lynch's resignation on 5 December 1979 as leader of Fianna Fáil.
Her father Richard Barry was a sitting TD in the same constituency at the time of the by-election. This is the only time a parent and child have represented the same constituency at the same time in the same Dáil.
Barry was 22 years old at the time of her first election, and one of the youngest-ever TDs elected to the Dáil. She was re-elected at each successive election until she retired from politics at the 1987 general election, after seven years in the Dáil,[4] at which time she was almost 30 years of age.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Myra Barry". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
- ^ "Cork North–East by-election, 7 November 1979". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ "Cork City by-election, 7 November 1979". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ "Myra Barry". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 14 September 2008.