Dan Spring

Who was Dan Spring?

Daniel "Dan" Spring was an Irish politician who represented the Kerry North constituency in the Dáil, from 1943 to 1981. He was a member of the Labour Party and was the father of Dick Spring, who led the Labour Party from 1982 to 1997.

Dan Spring was born into a working-class family in Tralee, County Kerry. He left school at the age of 14 and began his working life with a series of low-skilled jobs. When he was working at a mill, he became involved in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and after a while became a trade union official.

Spring first became prominent neither as a politician nor as a trade unionist, but as a Gaelic football player. He was the captain of the Tralee Kerins O'Rahilly's team and captain of the Kerry county side when they won the All-Ireland final in 1940. Through this and his involvement with the ITGWU he became well-known enough to stand in Kerry North for the Labour Party at the 1943 general election. He was elected as the first Labour Party Teachta Dála in Kerry ever and held his seat until he retired in 1981.