Brendan Halligan

Who is Brendan Halligan?

Brendan Halligan is an Irish economist and a former Labour Party politician.

Halligan was born in Dublin in 1936. Educated at St James's Christian Brothers School and Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, his early career was as an economist. He worked with the Irish Sugar Company until 1967 when he became involved in politics. In that year he became General-Secretary of the Labour Party. The leader, Brendan Corish, relied on Halligan's intellectual and political skills in his new role. Under Halligan the party underwent an energetic reorganisation. New structures and policies were put in place, coinciding with the party's leftward policy shift and an acute anti-coalition stance. Halligan strongly supported both ideals, but was instrumental in securing the eventual, and somewhat unwilling, acceptance by the party of the reversal of anti-coalition stance after the disappointing results in the 1969 general election.

The 1973 general election resulted in a Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government coming to power. Halligan, who did not contest the general election was rewarded by being appointed to Seanad Éireann. Three years later in 1976 he won a by-election in Dublin South–West, and as a result became a Teachta Dála. After boundary changes, he stood in the new Dublin Finglas at the 1977 general election, but was not re-elected. He continued to serve as General-Secretary of the party until 1980. Halligan stood again in the revived Dublin North–West constituency at the 1981 and November 1982 general elections, but was not elected in either contest. However, he was appointed as a Member of the European Parliament from 1983 until 1984, replacing Frank Cluskey.