Veteran Allen has seen ‘good, bad and ugly’
The chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, who has represented the Cork North Central constituency for 31 years, cited personal and health reasons.
He said he told his party leader Enda Kenny, whom he backed in last summer’s failed leadership heave, that he was considering retirement last week, but only reached his final decision yesterday.
“It is with great reluctance that I have reached this decision especially at a time when I am convinced that the Irish people will give Enda Kenny and the Fine Gael party a strong mandate to lead this country out of the mire that it is in,” the 66-year-old said.
Mr Kenny said: “I fully understand the decision. I thank him for his exemplary public service over many years, and for his outstanding role as chairman of the Dáil’s most powerful committee, the Committee of Public Accounts.”
Mr Allen also thanked his wife, Marie, their three daughters, his friends, supporters, and constituents for their support over the years.
Mr Allen was born in Cork in 1944 and was educated at the North Monastery and University College Cork, where he qualified with a diploma in Chemical Technology.
He was elected to the then Cork Corporation in 1979 and to Dáil Éireann in 1981.
When Fine Gael lost power in 1987, Mr Allen was appointed opposition spokesperson for health and the next year he was elected Lord Mayor of Cork.
In 1993 he became his party’s spokesperson for social welfare and in 1994, then taoiseach John Bruton appointed him Minister of State at the Department of Education and the Environment with special responsibility for youth and sport.
Michael Noonan appointed him party spokesperson for Tourism, Sport and Recreation in 1992.
He also served as opposition spokesperson for the Environment and Local Government and, from 2004 to 2007, he was Fine Gael’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Dáil sub-committee on European Affairs.
He has chaired the Dáil Public Accounts Committee since 2007 during which it investigated the FÁS expenses scandal, the bank guarantee scheme, and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
“It gave me a fantastic insight. I learned more in the last three years about how government and civil servants tick. I have seen the good, bad, and the ugly,” he said.
However, he spoke out last year about the PAC’s lack of powers, describing it as a watchdog that sometimes cannot bark.
His decision to retire from politics throws the race for the four seats in Cork North Central wide open. With Fianna Fáil’s Junior Minister Billy Kelleher and Noel O’Flynn under intense pressure, and Labour’s Kathleen Lynch expected to retain her seat, Fine Gael is running two candidates, former Lord Mayor, city councillor Dara Murphy, and county councillor Pat Burton.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
