Pat Rabbitte was born on 18 May 1949 and is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 1994 to 1997.
21 Facts About Pat Rabbitte
2.
Pat Rabbitte served as a Teachta Dala for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1989 to 2016.
3.
Patrick Rabbitte was born near Claremorris in 1949, and was brought up in Woodstock, Ballindine, County Mayo.
4.
Pat Rabbitte was educated locally at St Colman's College, Claremorris before emigrating to Britain to find employment.
5.
Pat Rabbitte returned shortly afterward to attend University College Galway where he studied Arts and Law.
6.
Pat Rabbitte achieved national attention while serving, between 1972 and 1974, as President of the national Union of Students in Ireland.
7.
Pat Rabbitte became involved in electoral politics for the first time in late 1982, when he unsuccessfully contested Dublin South-West for the Workers' Party at the November general election.
8.
Pat Rabbitte was elected to Dublin County Council in 1985.
9.
In 1992, Pat Rabbitte played a prominent role with Proinsias De Rossa in an attempt to jettison some of the party's more hard-left positions.
10.
Pat Rabbitte was appointed as Minister of State to the Government, as well as Minister at the Department of Enterprise and Employment with responsibility for Commerce, Science and Technology.
11.
Pat Rabbitte decided to locate the proposed new state-backed Technology Campus for West Dublin, based on high-speed telecommunication links, at CityWest Business Campus beside the N7 motorway, near Clondalkin.
12.
In 1999, Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party, with Rabbitte participating in the negotiations.
13.
In October 2002 Pat Rabbitte succeeded Ruairi Quinn as leader of the Labour Party.
14.
Pat Rabbitte has been described as an extremely good performer in the Dail, often outshining his Fine Gael counterpart Enda Kenny.
15.
Pat Rabbitte himself commented on the election result: "This leaves Mr Ahern in the driving seat".
16.
Pat Rabbitte was succeeded as party leader by Eamon Gilmore.
17.
Pat Rabbitte was re-elected on the first count in the 2011 general election.
18.
On 9 March 2011, Pat Rabbitte was appointed Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
19.
Pat Rabbitte claimed: "The State is about to sign away almost all our resources on terms by far the worst in the developed world".
20.
Pat Rabbitte responded with a letter, claiming that the article was inaccurate.
21.
In July 2014, Pat Rabbitte was replaced by Alex White as part of a reshuffle of the cabinet.