Dick Spring
Encyclopedia
Richard "Dick" Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish
businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party
Teachta Dála
(TD) in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997. He served as Minister for the Environment (1982–1983), Minister for Energy
(1983–1987) and Minister for Foreign Affairs
(1993–November 1994, December 1994–1997). He also served as Tánaiste
during those three governments.
in 1950 and was educated by the Cistercian monks at Cistercian College
in Roscrea
, County Tipperary
, and at Trinity College, Dublin
, and qualified as a barrister at King's Inns
.
and hurling
for Kerry
in the seventies. He played his club football with the Kerins O'Rahilly's
club in Tralee and hurling with Crotta O'Neill's
. His father Dan
won 2 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
s in 1939 and 1940.
He then won rugby union
caps for Munster
, and lined out for London Irish
in England. He also was capped for Ireland
seven times, debuting against on January 21, 1978 at Landsdowne Road, and receiving his last international cap on February 21, 1981 against at Cardiff Arms Park
.
in the general election of 1981
for the constituency of Kerry North, the seat previously held by his father Dan Spring
. The Labour Party formed a coalition Government with Fine Gael
and Spring was appointed a junior minister
on his first day as a deputy. When Michael O'Leary resigned as Party leader after the February 1982 general election, Spring allowed his name go forward in the leadership contest. He easily defeated Barry Desmond
and Michael D. Higgins
but inherited the leadership of a deeply divided party. Spring was a strong opponent of far left wing anti-coalition politics and systematically removed trotskyist left-wing activists from the party. Most notably he expelled the Militant Tendency (later Socialist Party
), including Joe Higgins
and Clare Daly
.
in 1985. In 1987 Spring and the Labour Party withdrew from the government on budgetary issues and Fianna Fáil
took power in the subsequent election. Spring himself narrowly escaped losing his seat when he was re-elected by just 4 votes.
as its candidate in the 1990 presidential election
. Robinson was elected, and this success enhanced the credibility of his leadership of the party. For Spring, his period in opposition coincided, with the exposure of a number of business scandals and gave him the opportunity to shine as critic of the Fianna Fáil government led by the controversial Charles Haughey
.
the party increased its Dáil seats from 15 to 33, its then largest ever number of seats, an event which is referred to as the "Spring Tide". After the election, no government could be elected when the new Dáil met. After some weeks of stalemate, Spring decided to enter negotiations with Reynolds over the Christmas period on a new Programme for Government. The Labour Party then entered a coalition government with Fianna Fáil, and thus returned Albert Reynolds
, who had taken over as Taoiseach
(Prime Minister) from Mr. Haughey at the beginning of the year, to power. Spring was appointed Tánaiste for the second time, and also Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was approved by a special party conference of over 1,000 delegates at Dublin's National Concert Hall in January 1993, though there were some Labour Party TDs, who dissented from the leadership position.
Labour took six of the fifteen cabinet ministries and had much of its election manifesto accepted by Fianna Fáil. New Departments of Equality and Law Reform, and of Arts and Culture, were established. Ethics legislation was to outlaw conflicts of interest. Male homosexual acts were to be decrminalised. Purchase of condoms without medical prescription was to be allowed. An extensive programme of family law reform and provision for a divorce referendum was to be undertaken. Spring insisted on a formalised system of programme managers, and state paid advisers to push the new Government's policy platform.
However support for the Labour Party declined, particularly as many voters felt betrayed at Labour for going into government with Fianna Fáil. In 1994, the Labour Party performed disastrously in by-elections, in Cork South Central
and in Cork North Central
. In both these cases, these seats were won by Democratic Left
. This had grave implications for the policy of the Labour leadership within the party. Clearly Labour was not doing well electorally, and needed to assess its role in the coalition.
Reynolds had wished to appoint the Attorney General
, Harry Whelehan
, as President of the High Court, for over one month. Spring had reservations about Whelehan being suitable, due to the alleged laxity of his handling of a particular child abuse criminal case, involving a disgraced Catholic priest. Reynolds, for his part could not understand why Spring was against Whelehan being nominated to the High Court, but had no concerns with Whelehan serving as attorney general. Reynolds became annoyed with Spring's stance, his failure to communicate his reservations, and decided to proceed anyway, whilst calling Spring's bluff. Spring withdrew with his ministers from the cabinet meeting which proceeded to recommend Mr Whelehan's appointment to the President. Immediately after, Reynolds implemented the decision.
There then continued a rather heated discussion in the Dáil, concerning the appointment. Fine Gael started asking questions about Whelehans suitability, and objectivity. This was supportive of Spring's position. Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte then implied that the Catholic hierarchy were instructing Reynolds to appoint Whelehan. Reynolds became irate with this allegation, and responeded angrily. Reynolds now realised that Spring was uncompromising about Whelehan. In an effort to regain the government, Reynolds removed Whelehan. However Spring refused to go back into government with Reynolds. Whelehan served as President of the High Court for one day.
Spring proceeded to withdraw from government. The minority Reynolds government then lost a vote of confidence in the Dáil. Reynolds resigned as party leader, but continued as a caretaker Taoiseach. Spring entered into negotiations with Reynolds' new successor, Bertie Ahern, the Minister for Finance. They agreed to reform the Fianna Fáil-Labour Government in early December. On the eve of that government being formed, the Irish Times published a report that Mr Ahern knew more about an aspect of the scandal that had brought down Reynolds than had previously been known. Spring broke off negotiations with Fianna Fáil. Spring pursued negotiations to form a coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left. In December Labour, with Fine Gael and Democratic Left
formed a coalition government, referred to as the 'Rainbow Coalition', before an election was called. Spring returned to his positions as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was the first occasion on which a new Irish government was formed without a general election. The previous Fianna Fáil and Labour Programme for Government was substantially adopted by the new government and in return for making John Bruton the Taoiseach, Ruairi Quinn
of Labour became the first ever Labour Minister for Finance.
During his period as Foreign Minister, Spring with Reynolds was involved in negotiations leading to the Provisional Irish Republican Army
and loyalist
ceasefires of 1994 and the Belfast Agreement
of 1998. With Albert Reynolds, he received warm applause in the Dáil on the announcement of the Downing Street Declaration
in December 1993. He also advanced Ireland's membership of the Partnership for Peace
, a sister organization of NATO a controversial issue due to Ireland's policy of neutrality
.
the Labour Party returned to opposition, winning only 17 of its outgoing 33 seats. This was considered by some to be a punishment by the electorate for the 1993 decision to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil. By others, it was considered a punishment for changing horses at the end of 1994, in order to remain in power. A front page article in the Irish Independent, on the day prior to the election titled 'Payback Time', calling on support for Fianna Fáil, had a direct and severe impact on the Labour Party. The Independent newspaper group had revealed many scandals involving Labour ministers abusing the perks of office in the year leading up to the election. The article was controversial as Spring had taken decisions in office which went against the broader business interests of the Independent's owner Anthony O'Reilly who was accused by Labour supporters of having attempted to use his paper's political influence to intimidate the Government into favouring companies linked to O'Reilly. The impact of the article is uncertain but the Labour Party suffered significant electoral losses and the outgoing coalition was defeated. In the Presidential election of the same year
the Labour Party candidate, Adi Roche
, came fourth out of five candidates. Following that defeat, Spring resigned as Labour Party leader, having served 15 years - one of the longest serving party leaders of Ireland. He remained a TD, until he lost his seat in a shock result at the 2002 general election
to the Sinn Féin
candidate, Martin Ferris
. He has not sought political office since.
John Major
. Spring devoted considerable energy and resources towards increasing Ireland's international influence and diplomatic ties in UN, in the post Cold War
world.
As Foreign Minister, there was much critical comment in the media on Spring's extensive foreign travel. Spring got even harsher criticism, for using the Government Jet to reduce journey times between his home in Tralee and his office in Dublin. However, he did conduct, for the first time, a public consultative process that involved a wide range of citizenry and social groups as well as members of the diaspora, in the re-shaping of Irish foreign policy through the first ever White Paper on Foreign Policy in 1996.
Critics of Dick Spring, have described him as a Champagne socialist
due to his choice of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
when staying in New York
as Foreign Minister, instead of staying in the then Irish-owned Fitzpatrick Hotel. He has also been criticized for expelling Militant Tendency
and other left-wing activists and his opposition to Democratic Left
joining Labour Party in case it swung the party to the left and challenged his leadership.Spring brought the Irish Labour party unprecedented visibility and power in government, at a time when the two significantly larger, right-of-centre political blocs, had precedence in every election. He advocated and successfully implemented, policies that were contrary to Catholic social teaching, which had always been a consideration in influencing Irish policy until the 1980s. In the aftermath of many scandals involving clerical sex abuse cases, and against a backdrop of rapidly declining confidence in the Catholic Church as an institution amongst the public at large, Spring found an opportunity to amend state policy, and steer social policy in a secular direction.
as a United Nations
envoy.
Spring received a directorship appointment to the Irish state telecom enterprise, Eircom
, in advance of the scheduled privatisation. As leader of a left of centre party, this was to endorse the privatization, and gain consent from the labour unions to the privatisation plan. However the privatisation was a financial disaster for members of the public, who became ordinary shareholders in the privatisation process. Spring became the target for much of the discontent. Spring's low work involvement, and generous remuneration package, was openly described as 'scandalous', by shareholder advocate Senator Shane Ross
. He continues to hold a directorship, with the Financial Services firm FEXCO
, based in Killorglin
, County Kerry.
Spring lives in Tralee with his wife Kristi (née Hutcheson), an American
whom he met while working in New York as a bartender. They have three children. His nephew Arthur is a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry North - Limerick West having first been a councillor for the Tralee electoral area of Kerry County Council. Spring is a member of Ballybunion Golf Club, and has invited former U.S. President
Bill Clinton
, amongst others to this location.
He is a director of Allied Irish Bank and receives annual pension payments of €121,108.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
(TD) in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997. He served as Minister for the Environment (1982–1983), Minister for Energy
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Ireland)
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is the senior minister at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the Government of Ireland.The current minister is Jimmy Deenihan, TD. He is assisted by:...
(1983–1987) and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.The current...
(1993–November 1994, December 1994–1997). He also served as Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
during those three governments.
Early life
Spring was born in Tralee, County KerryCounty Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
in 1950 and was educated by the Cistercian monks at Cistercian College
Cistercian College, Roscrea
Cistercian College, Roscrea or Roscrea College is a private boarding school in Ireland. It is a Roman Catholic seven-day boarding school for boys and was founded in 1905....
in Roscrea
Roscrea
Roscrea is a small heritage town in North Tipperary, Ireland. The town has a population of 4,910. Its main industries include meat processing and pharmaceuticals. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ikerrin...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, and at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, and qualified as a barrister at King's Inns
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
.
Sporting career
Spring played Gaelic footballGaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
and hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
for Kerry
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
in the seventies. He played his club football with the Kerins O'Rahilly's
Kerins O'Rahilly's
Kerins O'Rahilly's are a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Tralee County Kerry, Ireland. They are based in the Strand Road area of the town. They are in Division 1 of the county league which they won in 2006, and compete in the County Championship. The club won the County Championship last in...
club in Tralee and hurling with Crotta O'Neill's
Crotta O'Neill's
Crotta O'Neill's are a hurling club in the Kilflynn area of Kerry, Ireland. They play in the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship. The club is primarily concerned with the game of hurling.-History:...
. His father Dan
Dan Spring
Dan Spring was an Irish politician who represented the constituency of Kerry North 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...
won 2 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
s in 1939 and 1940.
He then won rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
caps for Munster
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
, and lined out for London Irish
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
in England. He also was capped for Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
seven times, debuting against on January 21, 1978 at Landsdowne Road, and receiving his last international cap on February 21, 1981 against at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
.
Early career
Spring's political life began in 1979 when he successfully contested the local elections in Tralee. He was first elected to Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
in the general election of 1981
Irish general election, 1981
The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
for the constituency of Kerry North, the seat previously held by his father Dan Spring
Dan Spring
Dan Spring was an Irish politician who represented the constituency of Kerry North 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...
. The Labour Party formed a coalition Government with Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
and Spring was appointed a junior minister
Minister of State (Ireland)
A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-Cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland....
on his first day as a deputy. When Michael O'Leary resigned as Party leader after the February 1982 general election, Spring allowed his name go forward in the leadership contest. He easily defeated Barry Desmond
Barry Desmond
Barry Desmond is a former Irish Labour Party politician and government minister.He was educated at the Presentation Brothers, the School of Commerce and University College Cork, and became a trade union official with the ITGWU and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions...
and Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
but inherited the leadership of a deeply divided party. Spring was a strong opponent of far left wing anti-coalition politics and systematically removed trotskyist left-wing activists from the party. Most notably he expelled the Militant Tendency (later Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Ireland)
The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of...
), including Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...
and Clare Daly
Clare Daly
Clare Daly is an Irish Socialist Party politician and trade union activist. She was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election. She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.-Early life:Daly was...
.
Ministerial appointment
Following the November 1982 general election Labour again formed a coalition government with Fine Gael. Spring was appointed Tánaiste and Minister for the Environment. He was closely involved in the negotiations which led to the Anglo-Irish AgreementAnglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
in 1985. In 1987 Spring and the Labour Party withdrew from the government on budgetary issues and Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
took power in the subsequent election. Spring himself narrowly escaped losing his seat when he was re-elected by just 4 votes.
Opposition
Under Spring, the Labour Party selected Mary RobinsonMary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
as its candidate in the 1990 presidential election
Irish presidential election, 1990
-Aftermath:While the role of the presidency in day to day politics is a very limited one the Robinson presidency is regarded by many observers as a watershed in Irish society symbolising the shift away from the conservative ultracatholic male-dominated Ireland which existed up until the end of the...
. Robinson was elected, and this success enhanced the credibility of his leadership of the party. For Spring, his period in opposition coincided, with the exposure of a number of business scandals and gave him the opportunity to shine as critic of the Fianna Fáil government led by the controversial Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
.
"Spring Tide" and return to power
As a result, in the 1992 general electionIrish general election, 1992
The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. However, after difficulties in forming a government the newly elected 166 members of the 27th Dáil did not assemble at Leinster House until 4 January 1993...
the party increased its Dáil seats from 15 to 33, its then largest ever number of seats, an event which is referred to as the "Spring Tide". After the election, no government could be elected when the new Dáil met. After some weeks of stalemate, Spring decided to enter negotiations with Reynolds over the Christmas period on a new Programme for Government. The Labour Party then entered a coalition government with Fianna Fáil, and thus returned Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...
, who had taken over as Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
(Prime Minister) from Mr. Haughey at the beginning of the year, to power. Spring was appointed Tánaiste for the second time, and also Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was approved by a special party conference of over 1,000 delegates at Dublin's National Concert Hall in January 1993, though there were some Labour Party TDs, who dissented from the leadership position.
Labour took six of the fifteen cabinet ministries and had much of its election manifesto accepted by Fianna Fáil. New Departments of Equality and Law Reform, and of Arts and Culture, were established. Ethics legislation was to outlaw conflicts of interest. Male homosexual acts were to be decrminalised. Purchase of condoms without medical prescription was to be allowed. An extensive programme of family law reform and provision for a divorce referendum was to be undertaken. Spring insisted on a formalised system of programme managers, and state paid advisers to push the new Government's policy platform.
However support for the Labour Party declined, particularly as many voters felt betrayed at Labour for going into government with Fianna Fáil. In 1994, the Labour Party performed disastrously in by-elections, in Cork South Central
Dublin South Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin South–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies...
and in Cork North Central
Cork North Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Cork North–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies...
. In both these cases, these seats were won by Democratic Left
Democratic Left
Democratic Left, Democratic Left Party, or Party of the Democratic Left may refer to:-Political parties:*Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left...
. This had grave implications for the policy of the Labour leadership within the party. Clearly Labour was not doing well electorally, and needed to assess its role in the coalition.
Reynolds had wished to appoint the Attorney General
Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General is a constitutional officer who is the official adviser to the Government of Ireland in matters of law. He is in effect the chief law officer in Ireland. The Attorney General is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends...
, Harry Whelehan
Harry Whelehan
Harry Whelehan is a former Irish Attorney general and for six days was President of the High Court.-X Case controversy:In 1992 as attorney general, Harry Whelehan sought an injunction in the X Case to prevent a 14 year old rape victim having an abortion...
, as President of the High Court, for over one month. Spring had reservations about Whelehan being suitable, due to the alleged laxity of his handling of a particular child abuse criminal case, involving a disgraced Catholic priest. Reynolds, for his part could not understand why Spring was against Whelehan being nominated to the High Court, but had no concerns with Whelehan serving as attorney general. Reynolds became annoyed with Spring's stance, his failure to communicate his reservations, and decided to proceed anyway, whilst calling Spring's bluff. Spring withdrew with his ministers from the cabinet meeting which proceeded to recommend Mr Whelehan's appointment to the President. Immediately after, Reynolds implemented the decision.
There then continued a rather heated discussion in the Dáil, concerning the appointment. Fine Gael started asking questions about Whelehans suitability, and objectivity. This was supportive of Spring's position. Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte then implied that the Catholic hierarchy were instructing Reynolds to appoint Whelehan. Reynolds became irate with this allegation, and responeded angrily. Reynolds now realised that Spring was uncompromising about Whelehan. In an effort to regain the government, Reynolds removed Whelehan. However Spring refused to go back into government with Reynolds. Whelehan served as President of the High Court for one day.
Spring proceeded to withdraw from government. The minority Reynolds government then lost a vote of confidence in the Dáil. Reynolds resigned as party leader, but continued as a caretaker Taoiseach. Spring entered into negotiations with Reynolds' new successor, Bertie Ahern, the Minister for Finance. They agreed to reform the Fianna Fáil-Labour Government in early December. On the eve of that government being formed, the Irish Times published a report that Mr Ahern knew more about an aspect of the scandal that had brought down Reynolds than had previously been known. Spring broke off negotiations with Fianna Fáil. Spring pursued negotiations to form a coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left. In December Labour, with Fine Gael and Democratic Left
Democratic Left (Ireland)
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party active in Ireland between 1992 and 1999. It came into being after a split in the Workers' Party and, after just seven years in existence, it merged into the Irish Labour Party.-Origins:...
formed a coalition government, referred to as the 'Rainbow Coalition', before an election was called. Spring returned to his positions as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was the first occasion on which a new Irish government was formed without a general election. The previous Fianna Fáil and Labour Programme for Government was substantially adopted by the new government and in return for making John Bruton the Taoiseach, Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...
of Labour became the first ever Labour Minister for Finance.
During his period as Foreign Minister, Spring with Reynolds was involved in negotiations leading to the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
and loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
ceasefires of 1994 and the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
of 1998. With Albert Reynolds, he received warm applause in the Dáil on the announcement of the Downing Street Declaration
Downing Street Declaration
The Downing Street Declaration was a joint declaration issued on 15 December 1993 by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major, and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, Albert Reynolds at the British Prime Minister office in 10 Downing Street...
in December 1993. He also advanced Ireland's membership of the Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace
Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...
, a sister organization of NATO a controversial issue due to Ireland's policy of neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
.
Resignation as party leader and defeat as TD
In the 1997 general electionIrish general election, 1997
The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
the Labour Party returned to opposition, winning only 17 of its outgoing 33 seats. This was considered by some to be a punishment by the electorate for the 1993 decision to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil. By others, it was considered a punishment for changing horses at the end of 1994, in order to remain in power. A front page article in the Irish Independent, on the day prior to the election titled 'Payback Time', calling on support for Fianna Fáil, had a direct and severe impact on the Labour Party. The Independent newspaper group had revealed many scandals involving Labour ministers abusing the perks of office in the year leading up to the election. The article was controversial as Spring had taken decisions in office which went against the broader business interests of the Independent's owner Anthony O'Reilly who was accused by Labour supporters of having attempted to use his paper's political influence to intimidate the Government into favouring companies linked to O'Reilly. The impact of the article is uncertain but the Labour Party suffered significant electoral losses and the outgoing coalition was defeated. In the Presidential election of the same year
Irish presidential election, 1997
-References:...
the Labour Party candidate, Adi Roche
Adi Roche
Adi Roche is a campaigner for peace, humanitarian aid, and education. She is the chief executive of Irish-based charity Chernobyl Children's Project International, and in November 2010 received the Health Award at the World of Children Awards ceremony.-Campaign work:As founder and chief executive...
, came fourth out of five candidates. Following that defeat, Spring resigned as Labour Party leader, having served 15 years - one of the longest serving party leaders of Ireland. He remained a TD, until he lost his seat in a shock result at the 2002 general election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...
to the Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
candidate, Martin Ferris
Martin Ferris
Martin Ferris is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and a former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Kerry North–West Limerick constituency since 2002 and is one of fourteen Sinn Féin representatives in the current Dáil.-Early life:Ferris was born in...
. He has not sought political office since.
Political legacy
In Irish political circles, the role of foreign minister was considered a poisoned chalice because of the challenge of resolving the delicate problem of how to de-escalate tensions in Northern Ireland, when both sides were wary of Irish governmental policy. Albert Reynolds, and Dick Spring, placed Northern Ireland at the top of the government agenda. Both were helped considerably by the initiative of John Hume, and the understanding built up between Reynolds, and British Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
. Spring devoted considerable energy and resources towards increasing Ireland's international influence and diplomatic ties in UN, in the post Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
world.
As Foreign Minister, there was much critical comment in the media on Spring's extensive foreign travel. Spring got even harsher criticism, for using the Government Jet to reduce journey times between his home in Tralee and his office in Dublin. However, he did conduct, for the first time, a public consultative process that involved a wide range of citizenry and social groups as well as members of the diaspora, in the re-shaping of Irish foreign policy through the first ever White Paper on Foreign Policy in 1996.
Critics of Dick Spring, have described him as a Champagne socialist
Champagne socialist
Champagne socialist is a pejorative political term originating in the United Kingdom. The phrase is used to describe self identified socialists whose comfortable upper middle class lifestyles are perceived to be incompatible with their professed political convictions...
due to his choice of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
when staying in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as Foreign Minister, instead of staying in the then Irish-owned Fitzpatrick Hotel. He has also been criticized for expelling Militant Tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
and other left-wing activists and his opposition to Democratic Left
Democratic Left
Democratic Left, Democratic Left Party, or Party of the Democratic Left may refer to:-Political parties:*Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left *Democratic Left...
joining Labour Party in case it swung the party to the left and challenged his leadership.Spring brought the Irish Labour party unprecedented visibility and power in government, at a time when the two significantly larger, right-of-centre political blocs, had precedence in every election. He advocated and successfully implemented, policies that were contrary to Catholic social teaching, which had always been a consideration in influencing Irish policy until the 1980s. In the aftermath of many scandals involving clerical sex abuse cases, and against a backdrop of rapidly declining confidence in the Catholic Church as an institution amongst the public at large, Spring found an opportunity to amend state policy, and steer social policy in a secular direction.
Subsequent life
Spring later became involved in the Cyprus disputeCyprus dispute
The Cyprus dispute is the result of the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, over the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus....
as a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
envoy.
Spring received a directorship appointment to the Irish state telecom enterprise, Eircom
Eircom
Eircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...
, in advance of the scheduled privatisation. As leader of a left of centre party, this was to endorse the privatization, and gain consent from the labour unions to the privatisation plan. However the privatisation was a financial disaster for members of the public, who became ordinary shareholders in the privatisation process. Spring became the target for much of the discontent. Spring's low work involvement, and generous remuneration package, was openly described as 'scandalous', by shareholder advocate Senator Shane Ross
Shane Ross
Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross is an independent Irish politician and Business Editor of the Sunday Independent. He was the longest-serving member of Seanad Éireann , until he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the constituency of Dublin South at the 2011 general election.-Early life and career:Born in...
. He continues to hold a directorship, with the Financial Services firm FEXCO
FEXCO
FEXCO is an Irish-based financial services company.FEXCO was set up in 1981 by , originally to provide Bureau de change services to the Irish market. is now a global provider of , , Consumer and Internationally Traded Services....
, based in Killorglin
Killorglin
Killorglin is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the river Laune, which has a rowing club and a new boathouse. The population of Killorglin is 4,150 although this expands considerably during Puck Fair due to visitors and returning emigrants.Killorglin is a major activity centre...
, County Kerry.
Spring lives in Tralee with his wife Kristi (née Hutcheson), an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
whom he met while working in New York as a bartender. They have three children. His nephew Arthur is a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry North - Limerick West having first been a councillor for the Tralee electoral area of Kerry County Council. Spring is a member of Ballybunion Golf Club, and has invited former U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, amongst others to this location.
He is a director of Allied Irish Bank and receives annual pension payments of €121,108.