Editing Joe Doyle (politician)

{{Short description|Irish politician (1936–2009)}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image         =
| office        = [[Seanad Éireann|Senator]]
| term_start    = 17 February 1993
| term_end      = 12 September 2002
| term_start1   = 25 April 1987
| term_end1     = 15 June 1989
| constituency1 = [[Administrative Panel]]
| office2       = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start2   = [[1989 Irish general election|June 1989]]
| term_end2     = [[1992 Irish general election|November 1992]]
| term_start3   = [[November 1982 Irish general election|November 1982]]
| term_end3     = [[1987 Irish general election|February 1987]]
| constituency3 = [[Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-East]]
| office4       = [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]]
| term_start4   = June 1998
| term_end4     = June 1999
| predecessor4  = [[John Stafford (Irish politician)|John Stafford]]
| successor4    = [[Mary Freehill]]
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1936|6|27|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[County Dublin]], Ireland
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2009|8|8|1936|6|27|df=y}}
| death_place   = County Dublin, Ireland
| nationality   = [[Irish people|Irish]] 
| party         = [[Fine Gael]]
| education     = 
| alma_mater    = 
| spouse        = {{marriage|Margaret Mary Maguire|1969}}
| children      = 3
|}} 
'''Joseph Doyle''' (27 June 1936 – 8 August 2009) was an Irish [[Fine Gael]] politician.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web |title=Joseph Doyle |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Joseph-Doyle.D.1982-12-14/ |work=Oireachtas Members Database |date=26 June 2002 |access-date=9 August 2009 |archive-date=7 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145543/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Joseph-Doyle.D.1982-12-14 |url-status=live }}</ref> He served two terms as a deputy for the [[Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-East]] constituency. He served variously as a member of [[Dublin City Council]], [[Dáil Éireann]] and [[Seanad Éireann]], becoming [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]] from 1998 to 1999.

==Political career==
Doyle, a former [[sacristan]] in the local [[Roman Catholic]] church in [[Donnybrook, Dublin|Donnybrook]], was first elected to public office at the [[1979 Irish local elections|1979 local elections]], to represent the Pembroke area for [[Fine Gael]] on [[Dublin City Council]]. He served continually in City Hall from 1979 until his retirement at the [[2004 Irish local elections|2004 local elections]]. Between 1998 and 1999 he served as [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2020-09/lord-mayors-of-dublin-1665-2021.pdf|title=Lord Mayors of Dublin 1665–2020 |work=Dublin City Council|date=June 2020|access-date=18 November 2023}}</ref>

He was elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] as a Fine Gael [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) for [[Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-East]] at the [[November 1982 Irish general election|November 1982 general election]], where his party constituency colleague was party leader (and after the election [[Taoiseach]]) [[Garret FitzGerald]].<ref name=oireachtas_db/>

==Rebellion on abortion==
Doyle achieved early party notoriety in 1983, when he was one of eight Fine Gael TDs to defy the party and vote against the Fine Gael–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] coalition's proposed wording to the [[anti-abortion]] [[Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|constitutional amendment]]. Whereas the government's wording included a negative prohibition, namely that nothing in the constitution should be interpreted as granting a right to abortion, Doyle—along with [[Alice Glenn]] and some other colleagues—endorsed the [[Fianna Fáil]] alternative wording that granted a "right to life to the unborn, with due regard to the equal right of the mother". Because of the controversial nature of the issue of abortion, and the fact that Fine Gael was split on it, he was not sacked from the party for breaking the party whip.

==Winning and losing seats==
He was one of a number of TDs to lose their seats at the [[1987 Irish general election|1987 general election]]. At the Seanad election that followed, he was elected by the [[Administrative Panel]] to sit in the upper house ([[Seanad Éireann]]). He regained his Dáil seat at the [[1989 Irish general election|1989 general election]], where he and FitzGerald achieved two seats out of four with a tight vote-management strategy. However, he lost his seat again at the [[1992 Irish general election|1992 general election]] to new running mate [[Frances Fitzgerald (politician)|Frances Fitzgerald]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web |title=Joe Doyle |url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3334 |work=ElectionsIreland.org |access-date=9 August 2009 |archive-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221223800/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3334 |url-status=live }}</ref> Though he contested the [[1997 Irish general election|1997 general election]]—under party pressure because it saw Doyle as the party's best chance to win a seat, even though he had originally decided not to contest any more general elections—he failed to regain a Dáil seat. He had the consolation of retaining his Senate seat in the election to the [[21st Seanad]].

==Lord Mayor of Dublin==
Doyle served as [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]] from 1998 to 1999. He was central to the decision to erect the [[Spire of Dublin]], on the site of [[Nelson's Pillar]].

On his retirement from Dublin City Council in 2004, his political rival, Labour Party Dublin City Councillor [[Dermot Lacey]], paid the following tribute: "I have long respected his integrity and commitment to achieving what he believed was best for the people he represented. In many ways Joe as a politician is the epitome of the historic mandate of Fine Gael - honourable, conservative, compassionate and committed to the democratic institutions of our State."{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==Epilepsy==
Doyle openly discussed in public life his lifelong experience of battling with [[epilepsy]], a consequence of which was that he could not drive, normally a necessity for a local representative elected from a constituency.

==Best man at Brendan Behan's wedding==
He also revealed that as sacristan in the local church he had been [[best man]] at the wedding of Irish playwright and author [[Brendan Behan]], when Behan found himself without a best man at the ceremony.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-best-of-memories-as-friends-pay-tribute-to-doyle/26557528.html|title=The best of memories as friends pay tribute to Doyle|last=Brennan|first=Michael|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=10 September 2009|access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life and family==
Joe Doyle married Margaret Mary Maguire on 11 February 1969 in the Church of the Sacred Heart, [[Donnybrook, Dublin]]. They had two sons and one daughter. Joe's step-brother, John Doyle (1925–2009), was also active in politics and was [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Mayor and Bailiff of [[Hemel Hempstead]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/former-town-mayor-dies-1-1207904 |title=Former town mayor dies - Hemel Gazette |access-date=16 April 2017 |archive-date=17 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417065948/http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/former-town-mayor-dies-1-1207904 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Doyle was educated at CBS Westland Row.<ref name="it-obit-1">{{cite news |title='Outstanding' Fine Gael politician and lord mayor of Dublin |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/outstanding-fine-gael-politician-and-lord-mayor-of-dublin-1.720009 |access-date=19 February 2021 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=15 August 2009}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.doyle.com.au/heraldic_coat_arms.htm Joe Doyle's coat of arms], as awarded by the Chief Herald of Ireland (scroll to the end of the page)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150112161751/http://www.epilepsy.ie/index.cfm/spKey/news.brainwave/spId/334829AE-D6E9-39EE-9999FDCA13E936EB.html Epilepsy loses a true advocate]

{{s-start}}
{{s-civ}}
{{s-bef|before = [[John Stafford (Irish politician)|John Stafford]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]]
       |years  = 1998–1999}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[Mary Freehill]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Members of the 18th Seanad}}
{{Members of the 20th Seanad}}
{{Members of the 21st Seanad}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Joe}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Fine Gael TDs]]
[[Category:Lord mayors of Dublin]]
[[Category:Members of the 18th Seanad]]
[[Category:Members of the 24th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 20th Seanad]]
[[Category:Members of the 21st Seanad]]
[[Category:Members of the 26th Dáil]]
[[Category:People with epilepsy]]
[[Category:Fine Gael senators]]
[[Category:Irish anti-abortion activists]]
[[Category:Fine Gael local councillors]]
[[Category:Administrative Panel senators]]