Political party Labour Party Spouse Marilyn Fisher Preceded by New office Children 3 | Preceded by Brian Cowen Name Mervyn Taylor Party Labour Party Nationality Irish Role Solicitor | |
Born 1 December 1931 (age 92)
Dublin, Ireland ( 1931-12-01 ) | ||
Preceded by Maire Geoghegan-Quinn Education Trinity College, Dublin Succeeded by Maire Geoghegan-Quinn | ||
Mervyn taylor reads the bull from rabbit ears
Mervyn Taylor (born 28 December 1931) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Equality and Law Reform from 1994 to 1997, Minister for Equality and Law Reform from 1993 to 1994 and Minister for Labour in January 1993. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1981 to 1997.
Contents
- Mervyn taylor reads the bull from rabbit ears
- Law and the older person mervyn taylor
- Early life
- Legal practice
- Politics
- Legislation
- Family
- References
Law and the older person mervyn taylor
Early life
He was born to a Jewish family in Dublin. He was educated at Zion School, Wesley College and at Trinity College, Dublin where he qualified as a solicitor.
Legal practice
He worked for Herman Good Solicitors, alongside Herman Good and future district judge Hubert Wine. Good's involvement in the Labour Party was instrumental in Taylor getting involved in politics. Taylor later established his own firm of Taylor and Buchalter Solicitors with the late Don Buchalter, and practised as a solicitor for over 50 years before retiring from active practice in his 70s. He continued as a consultant to the firm of Taylor and Buchalter Solicitors for most of his 70s.
Politics
Taylor was elected to Dublin County Council in the 1970s, and to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South-West at the 1981 general election, on his third attempt. He then held the seat at every election until his retirement from politics in 1997.
He was Chairman of the Labour Party from 1987 to 1991, and Labour chief whip, from 1981 to 1988. He was assistant government chief whip from 1981 to 1982, and again from 1982 to 1987. In 1993 he was appointed as Minister for Labour for a brief period, and then served as Minister for Equality and Law Reform during the two governments of 1993–94 and 1994–97.
Legislation
In 1995 Taylor was in charge of the government proposal to legislate to remove the prohibition of divorce from the constitution; he steered the relevant bills through Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, and won the subsequent referendum by the narrow margin of 0.5 per cent. In the course of the campaign he survived criticism of the measure directed at his Jewish faith, as well as a Supreme Court ruling that public monies could not properly be spent in promoting the government's opinion on a referendum proposal.
His other major project was the introduction of two wide-ranging anti-discrimination measures, the Employment Equality Bill and the Equal Status Bill. These were struck down by the Supreme Court but revised versions were approved by the Government in the final months of Taylor's term of office, and were ultimately published and enacted during the following Dáil term.
The legislation introduced by Taylor and enacted during his term of office is as follows:
Legislation originally introduced by Taylor but enacted during the following Dail is as follows:
Legislation introduced by Taylor, struck down by the Supreme Court and not re-introduced is as follows:
Family
Taylor is married to Marilyn Taylor, who is the author of numerous books for young people. They have two sons, a daughter, and eight grandchildren.