Madeleine Taylor-Quinn

Madeleine Taylor-Quinn
Senator
In office February 1993 – September 2002
In office May 1982 – November 1982
Constituency	Cultural and Educational Panel
Teachta Dála
In office November 1982–November 1992
In office June 1981–February 1982
Constituency	Clare
Personal details
Born	Madeleine Taylor (1951-05-26)26 May 1951 Kilkee,Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	George Quinn ​ (m.1982)​
Children	2
Parent	Frank Taylor(father)
Alma mater	University College Galway

Madeleine Taylor-Quinn(born 26 May 1951) is an Irish formerFine Gaelpolitician who served as aSenatorfor theCultural and Educational Panelfrom 1981 to 1982 and 1992 to 2002 and aTeachta Dála(TD) for theClareconstituency from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1992.

Biography

Taylor-Quinn is a native ofKilkee,County Clare.She was educated at the Convent of Mercy Secondary School inKilrush,and atUniversity College Galway,graduating with aBachelor of Arts(BA),Bachelor of Education(H.Dip.Ed), andBachelor of Laws(LLB). She began her career as a teacher. She became a founder member ofYoung Fine Gaelin 1977, and Joint Honorary Secretary of Fine Gael from 1979 to 1982, the first woman officer in the party.

She was elected toDáil Éireannon her first attempt, at the1981 general election,succeeding her fatherFrank Taylor,who had been a TD from 1969 to 1981.She wasCounty Clare's first-ever female TD, she took her seat in the22nd Dáilas Fine Gael leaderGarret FitzGeraldwas electedTaoiseach,heading a Fine Gael-Labour Partycoalition government.

The government fell in January 1982 when it was defeated in a vote on the budget, and at theFebruary 1982 general electionTaylor-Quinn lost her seat to Fine Gael's other candidate,Donal Carey.She was then elected to the16th Seanadas a Senator for theCultural and Educational Panel.

She regained her Dáil seat later that year, at theNovember 1982 general election,and was re-elected at the1987and1989 general elections.She lost her seat at the1992 general election.She stood again at the1997and2002 elections,but was unsuccessful.

After her Dáil defeat in 1992, Taylor-Quinn was elected to theSeanad Éireann,again for the Cultural and Educational Panel, which re-elected her in 1997 to the21st Seanad.She was defeated at the 2002 Seanad elections. She also stood as a Fine Gael candidate at the2004 European Parliament election,for theNorth-Westconstituency, achieving over 22,000 votes in the Clare constituency, which was the highest vote of any candidate in any election in County Clare, but was defeated. She again contested the Clare constituency at the2007 general election,winning 3,592 first preferences. Her party colleagues Pat Breen andJoe Careywon the Fine Gael seats.

In the Dáil, she has served at various times as her party's Spokesperson on Tourism, the Marine and Defence. She has held a number of frontbench positions in the Seanad, including Foreign Affairs, Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Justice, Law Reform and Defence and also served as Deputy Opposition Leader. She has served as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Marriage Breakdown, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Women's Rights and the Select Committee on Judicial Separation, on which last she was Chairperson.

Taylor-Quinn was a member ofClare County Councilfrom 1979 to 2009 when she decided to retire from politics. She is a former Mayor of the County Council (2008–09), and was the first Fine Gael Mayor in Clare. She was also the Fine Gael group leader on the County Council until 2009. She is married to George Quinn, and has two sons.