Barry Desmond was born on 15 May 1935 and is an Irish former Labour Party politician who was Minister for Health from 1982 to 1987 and Minister for Social Welfare from 1982 to 1986.
10 Facts About Barry Desmond
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Barry Desmond served as a Teachta Dala from 1969 to 1989, a Minister of State from 1981 to 1982, a Member of the European Parliament for Dublin from 1989 to 1994, and Ireland's member of the European Court of Auditors from 1994 to 2000.
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Barry Desmond became a trade union official with the ITGWU and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
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Cornelius Barry Desmond was the President of the ITGWU in Cork.
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Barry Desmond first entered Dail Eireann at the 1969 general election, when he was elected as a Labour Party TD for Dun Laoghaire and Rathdown.
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Barry Desmond was then elected in 1977 at Dun Laoghaire, where he won a seat at every election until he retired from the Dail in 1989.
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FitzGerald began a major cabinet reshuffle in February 1986, to appoint him as Minister for Justice; Barry Desmond refused, and Spring supported him in that attitude.
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Barry Desmond then served as a member of the European Court of Auditors from 1994 to 2000, being replaced by Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.
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Barry Desmond was elected president of the Maritime Institute of Ireland on 18 November 2006.
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Barry Desmond remains a member of the Council of the Maritime Institute of Ireland.