| Ray Burke |
Article Index for Ray |
Website Links For Ray |
Information AboutRay Burke |
|
Burke was born in Dublin, Ireland . He was educated at O'Connell Schools and became an auctioneer. He was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1973 , following in the footsteps of his father P.J. Burke . He held his seat until his resignation almost twenty-five years later. In 1977 Burke was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce. He supported George Colley in the Fianna Fáil leadership contest of 1979 but was still retained in his government position by the new Taoiseach , Charles Haughey . In October 1980 he was appointed Minister for the Environment, a position he held until June 1981 , and again in the short-lived government of 1982 . Between 1987 and 1989 he served as Minister for Energy. After this he was appointed Minister for Industry and Commerce and Communications. Following the formation of the Progressive Democrats -Fianna Fáil Coalition in 1989 he became Minister For Justice and Minister For Communications , this rather unusual combination of portfolios would later pose questions of improper payments from the now defunct Century Radio . When Albert Reynolds came to power in 1992 , he did not re-appoint Burke to the Cabinet. In 1997 Fianna Fáil was back in power and Burke was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs by new Taoiseach Bertie Ahern . Within months, allegations that he had received £80,000 from a property developer regarding the former Dublin County Council resurfaced. Burke denied the allegations but resigned from the Cabinet and from the Dáil after just four months in office. This allegation lead to the setting up of the Planning Tribunal chaired by Mr Justice Feargus Flood . In an interim report of the subsequent Flood Tribunal he was unambiguously judged by Flood to be "corrupt". In addition there also allegations that Ray Burke was made payments by a company called "Rennicks Ltd" which the details of which were published in the Irish Times in June 1997 immediately after the General Election If the article written by Geraldine Kennedy was published before the election, it is doubtful if the FF-PD coalition would have gained power Rennicks is a company associated with Tony O'Reilly, the day prior to the General Election O'Reilly's Irish Independent ran a front page editorial against the Fine Gael - Labour Coalition Government entitled "Pay Back Time" in order to influence the electorate. The publishing of the Editorial broke a long standing moratorium that all coverage of the election ceases a day ahead of the poll. The Flood and subsequent Mahon Tribunal have yet to deal with "Rennicks Payment" issue The issue on whether the Mahon Tribunal can now investigate the "Rennicks Payment" has now come before the Irish Courts (Sept 2005) by way of an application for a full hearing into whether the Mahon Tribunal can investigate the alleged Fitzwilton-Rennicks payment to Ray Burke, the High Court decided that a full hearing will take place. A date has yet to be set for the full hearing by the High Court. In July 2004 , he pleaded guilty to making false tax returns. After a period on bail, on January 24 , 2005 he was sentenced to 6 months in jail for these offences, making him one of the most senior politicians in the history of Ireland to serve time in jail. He was released in June 2005 after four and a half months, earning a 25% remission of sentence because of good behaviour. He served his time in Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin. MINISTERIAL CAREER EXTERNAL LINK |
|
|