Ben Briscoe - Biography

Ben Briscoe (born 11 March 1934) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician.

Member of Dáil Éireann

He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for 37 years, representing a series of constituencies in Dublin.

Briscoe was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1965 General Election, for the Dublin South West constituency, succeeding his father, Robert Briscoe who had been a TD for 38 years. He was elected at the 1969 General Election for Dublin South Central, where he was re-elected in 1973, and after major bouundary changes for the 1977 election, he was elected for the new Dublin Rathmines West constituency. That seat was abolished for the 1981 General Election, when he was returned for the re-established Dublin South Central constituency, which he held until he retired at the 2002 General Election.

In the 1992 General Election Ben Briscoe was involved in a marathon recount battle with Democratic Left's Eric Byrne to decide the fate of the final seat in Dublin South Central. Briscoe was declared the victor after ten days of re-counting and re-checking ballot papers, leading to his quote "the agony and the ex-TD." It was the first time that an original result was over-turned in an election in the modern Irish state.

Briscoe was sometimes critical of the leader of Fianna Fáil in the 1980s, once describing Charles Haughey leadership as a "Fascist Dictatorship". He fronted a campaign of a quietly discontented anti-Haughey faction which included Charlie McCreevy during the Taoiseach's years in office within the Parliamentary Party.

Lord Mayor of Dublin

In 1988–1989 he was Lord Mayor of Dublin, a post previously held by his father Robert.

Ben Briscoe, while Lord Mayor of Dublin, famously paid a visit to Martin Cahill tent and persuaded him to move into a new house in a more upscale district of Rathmines. In 1978, the Dublin Corporation began preparing to demolish Hollyfield Buildings. Cahill, then serving a four-year prison sentence, fought through the courts to prevent his neighborhood's destruction. Even after the tenements were demolished, he continued to live in a pitched tent on the site.

The Molly Malone statue on Grafton Street, was unveiled by then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alderman Ben Briscoe during 1988 the Dublin Millennium celebrations, declaring June 13 officially as Molly Malone Day..

Family Political Tradition

Briscoe is one of Ireland's most famous Jewish politicians. The small Irish Jewish community have been enthusiastic and active participants in political and legal world. Briscoe's father was one of several Jews involved in the War of Independence and Sinn Féin movements, which led to the Jewish community being targeted by British occupation forces. In Briscoe's time each of the three main political parties had a Jewish member in Ireland's 166-member Dáil. Ireland was the first country to specifically guarantee the rights of the Jewish religion in its constitution, significantly drawn up in 1937. Jack Lynch later introduced the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Act of 1973 officially removed the Roman Catholic Church as the state church in equal recognition of other religions including the Jewish Congregations.

External links

• Irish Times Biography