1. George Colley served as a Teachta Dala from 1961 to 1983.
35 Facts About George Colley
1. 2.
George Colley was the son of Harry Colley and Christina Colley.
3.
George Colley's father was a veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising and a former adjutant in the Irish Republican Army, who was elected to Dail Eireann in 1944, as a Fianna Fail candidate.
4.
George Colley studied law at University College Dublin and qualified as a solicitor in the mid-1940s.
5.
George Colley remained friends with Haughey after leaving school and, ironically, encouraged him to become a member of Fianna Fail in 1951.
6.
George Colley was elected to the Dail at the 1961 general election, reclaiming his father's old seat in the Dublin North-East constituency.
7.
Thereafter, George Colley progressed rapidly through the ranks of Fianna Fail.
8.
George Colley became a member of the Dail at a time when a change from the older to the younger generation was taking place, a change facilitated by the Taoiseach Sean Lemass.
9.
George Colley was active in the Oireachtas as chairman of some of the Joint Labour Committees, which were set up under the Labour Court, to fix legally enforceable wages for groups of workers who had not been effectively organised in trade unions.
10.
George Colley was leader of the Irish parliamentary delegation to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe.
11.
George Colley introduced a plan to establish comprehensive schools, set up an advisory council on post-primary school accommodation in Dublin, and introduced a school psychological service.
12.
George Colley was promoted as Minister for Industry and Commerce, in a cabinet reshuffle in July 1966, and he continued the government policy of economic expansion that had prevailed since the late 1950s.
13.
George Colley was the favoured candidate of party elders such as Sean MacEntee and Frank Aiken, the latter managing Colley's campaign and annoyed at Lemass's quick decision to retire before Colley had built up his support.
14.
George Colley was considered to be in the same mould as the party founders, concerned with issues such as the peaceful reunification of the country and the cause of the Irish language.
15.
George Colley did not back down and the leadership issue went to a vote for the first time in the history of the Fianna Fail party.
16.
George Colley used this dual position to direct industrial investment to Gaeltacht areas.
17.
George Colley set about changing the traditional view of the Irish-speaking regions as backward and promoted their equal claim to the more sophisticated industries being established in Ireland by foreign investment.
18.
George Colley was rewarded by his appointment as Minister for Finance, the second most important position in government, while retaining the Gaeltacht portfolio.
19.
George Colley was regarded as a predictable Minister and the ultimate safe man, as a highly orthodox Keynesian.
20.
George Colley oversaw the decimalisation of the Irish currency in 1971.
21.
George Colley championed the introduction of RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta and argued the financial case for it in 1972, as the Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht.
22.
George Colley was appointed opposition Spokesman on Finance, in the new Fianna Fail front bench.
23.
George Colley came to be regarded as a hard-working spokesman and was a constant critic of what he viewed as the coalition government's restrictive economic policy and of the capital taxation which he believed discouraged investment.
24.
George Colley was re-appointed as Minister for Finance and Minister for the Public Service, and was appointed as Tanaiste.
25.
George Colley immediately set about dismantling the previous government's capital taxation programme while abolishing the wealth tax and diluting the capital gains and capital acquisition taxes.
26.
George Colley had the backing of the majority of the Cabinet and the party hierarchy, while Haughey relied on support from the first-time backbenchers.
27.
George Colley remained as Tanaiste but demanded and received a veto on Haughey's ministerial appointments to the departments of Justice and Defence.
28.
George Colley was removed from his position as Minister for Finance and Minister for the Public Service.
29.
George Colley declined the position of Minister for Foreign Affairs, preferring instead a domestic portfolio, which resulted in a demotion.
30.
George Colley was temporarily appointed Minister for Transport and Tourism, before taking charge of the new Department of Energy.
31.
Haughey delayed naming a new opposition front bench, but George Colley was still a key member of the Fianna Fail hierarchy.
32.
George Colley demanded the same veto as before on Haughey's Defence and Justice appointments, but was refused.
33.
Several unsuccessful leadership challenges took place in late 1982 and early 1983, with George Colley now supporting Desmond O'Malley and the Gang of 22 who opposed Haughey.
34.
George Colley met his future wife, Mary Doolan, on Irish-language courses in the Kerry Gaeltacht.
35.
George Colley died suddenly on 17 September 1983, aged 57, while receiving treatment for a heart condition at Guy's Hospital, London.