Garret FitzGerald

Who was Garret FitzGerald?

Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to the Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to the Dáil as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald was the leader of Fine Gael between 1977 and 1987.

He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first Minister for External Affairs of the Irish Free State following independence in 1922. At the time of his death, FitzGerald was the President of the Institute of International and European Affairs, had a column in The Irish Times and made occasional appearances on television programmes.