Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
About Eric Byrne
- Eric Byrne (born 21 April 1947) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 1989 to 1992, 1994 to 1997 and 2011 to 2016.He was formerly a member of Official Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party and Democratic Left. Born in Dublin, he was educated at Synge Street CBS school and the Bolton Street College of Technology.
- A carpenter before entering politics, Byrne stood unsuccessfully for election to Dáil Éireann as a Workers' Party candidate for Dublin Rathmines West at the 1977 general election and Dublin South-Central at the 1981, February 1982, November 1982 and 1987 general elections. He was elected in 1985 as a Workers' Party member of Dublin City Council for Crumlin/Kimmage area, and was re-elected at subsequent local elections until 2011, where he was forced to resign his seat due to dual mandate.
- He was finally elected at the 1989 general election.
- He joined with Workers' Party members who formed Democratic Left in 1992.
- He unexpectedly lost his seat at the 1992 general election.
- Labour's Pat Upton was unexpectedly returned on the first count, with Byrne finally losing the last seat to Fianna Fáil's Ben Briscoe by five votes after a marathon 10-day count.He was elected to the 27th Dáil at a by-election on 9 June 1994 following the resignation of long-serving Fianna Fáil TD John O'Connell (who had previously been a Labour TD for the same constituency).
- Byrne was a backbench supporter of the 'Rainbow' government led by Fine Gael's John Bruton. Byrne lost his seat again at the 1997 general election.
- Although the Labour Party and the Democratic Left merged in 1999, he was not selected to contest the Dublin South-Central by-election which followed Pat Upton's death later that year.
- Upton's sister Mary was elected for the Labour Party. Byrne contested the 2002 general election on the Labour Party ticket as Mary Upton's running-mate, but was unsuccessful.
- Along with Mary Upton, he contested the Dublin South-Central constituency at the 2007 general election advocating a Labour Party/Fine Gael government but missed the final seat by 69 votes.
- Byrne was nominated by the Labour Party to contest the Seanad election in the Labour panel but was not elected.
- In 2009, he was re-elected to Dublin City Council.
- At the 2011 general election he was re-elected to the Dáil, after 14 years. In January 2015, he became involved in an altercation with Sinn Féin TD, Jonathan O'Brien.
- During ministers questions, O'Brien had criticized Tainiste Joan Burton over homelessness in Ireland, citing the experiences of his brother who was a recovering heroin addict.
- Byrne asked of O'Brien "Why doesn’t his good family give him a home?" which infuriated O'Brien.
- Irish Times journalist Miriam Lord, criticized Byrne, remarking that "You sense the relief rising in the chamber.
- They don’t like it when the real world intrudes.
- These sort of things don’t really happen to TDs." He lost his seat at the 2016 general election.
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