Garret Desmond FitzGerald was an Irish Fine Gael politician, public intellectual, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 and was twice Leader of the Opposition between 1977 and 1982; he was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1992 and was a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1965 to 1969.
FitzGerald in 1975
FitzGerald (l–r) with Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, US president Gerald Ford and US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office on St Patrick's Day, 1976
FitzGerald (left) at the official opening of the Wang facility in Plassey Technological Park, Limerick, 1984
FitzGerald (right) giving a bowl of shamrocks to US president Ronald Reagan in the White House Rose Garden on St Patrick's Day, 1986
Fine Gael is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann and largest in terms of Irish members of the European Parliament. The party had a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Simon Harris succeeded Leo Varadkar as party leader on 24 March 2024.
W. T. Cosgrave
Eoin O'Duffy
Frank MacDermot
James Dillon
