Preceded by Pat Rabbitte Preceded by Brendan Ryan Party Labour Party Constituency Dublin South | Succeeded by Kathleen Lynch Role Irish Politician Preceded by Roisin Shortall Name Alex White | |
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Succeeded by Phil Prendergast (acting) Profiles | ||
Education Trinity College, Dublin | ||
Alexander John White (born 3 December 1958) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2014 to 2016, Minister of State for Primary Care from 2012 to 2014 and Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad 2007 to 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South constituency from 2011 to 2016. He was a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 2007 to 2011.
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Deputy alex white speaking on the irish film board
Early life
White grew up in Marino, Dublin. He was educated at Chanel College Coolock, Trinity College, Dublin, and the King's Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1987.
White was a student activist in Trinity College, Dublin, where he was president of the Students' Union and also for a time a supporter of various Trotskyist groupings, including the League for a Workers Republic. He was later a national officer of the Union of Students in Ireland. During his time as a producer with RTÉ he was active in the SIPTU trade union. In common with Mary McAleese he was attacked and criticised by a group led by Eoghan Harris and associated with the Workers' Party over what they perceived as their bias towards Republican groups in the North. White was a strong opponent of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act, which prevented Sinn Féin members from being heard. Alex White has a long record of involvement in campaigns to further the equal rights of women. He actively campaigned for divorce in 1986 and 1995, and was a Director of Elections for the Anti-Amendment campaign on the North side of Dublin in 1983.
Political career
He was first elected to South Dublin County Council in 2004, for the Terenure-Rathfarnham electoral area. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2007 general election in the Dublin South constituency.
White was nominated as a general election candidate in 2007 by the Labour Party leadership. He had voted for coalition with Fine Gael in a Labour Party congress (the line of Pat Rabbitte, then leader of the party). His election to the Senate was due to a voting pact with Sinn Féin.
He was the Labour Party candidate in the 2009 by-election in Dublin South. He came second behind the former RTÉ economics editor George Lee. White was his party's Seanad group leader and national spokesperson on children between 2007 and February 2011, when he was elected to the Dáil. He subsequently was appointed as chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.
White was leader of an Oireachtas delegation that met the Bundestag's Budgetary and European Affairs committees in Berlin in late January 2012.
White was formally nominated for the position of Minister of State for Primary Care by Eamon Gilmore, on 27 September 2012, following the resignation of Róisín Shortall.
Following the resignation of Eamon Gilmore as Leader of the Labour Party in the aftermath of Labour's poor result at the local and European elections, White announced his candidacy for the party leadership. On 4 July 2014, Joan Burton was elected as Labour Party leader, defeating White by 77% to 22%.
Alex White played a key role in the Marriage Equality Campaign 2015.
On 11 July 2014, he was appointed Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in a cabinet reshuffle.
White lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He remained Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in an acting capacity during prolonged talks on government formation, earning €13,515 in that time.