Browne, Noel

Browne, Noel (1915–97), government minister and social reformer. Browne was trained as a medical doctor and was attracted into politics by the social radicalism of Clann na Poblachta. He was elected as a TD for Dublin South East in 1948, and became minister for health in the first interparty government. Using Irish Hospitals sweepstake money, he was able to bypass the restrictions of the Department of Finance, and mount a successful campaign against the scourge of tuberculosis. In pursuing his welfarist agenda, he became embroiled in the Mother and Child controversy and was forced into resignation on 11 April 1951. His later political career, though extensive, was overshadowed by this débâcle: he sat in the Dáil as an Independent (1951–3 and 1957–8) and as a representative of the National Progressive Democratic Party (1958–63). He was a Labour TD between 1969 and 1973, and a Labour Senator (1973–7): he then left the party, and was returned to the Dáil as an Independent Labour representative, though he later shifted his allegiance to the newly founded Socialist Labour Party. His controversial autobiography Against the Tide (1986) was aptly titled: Browne had travelled across the spectrum of Irish politics, and was ultimately impatient with the compromises and discipline of mainstream party membership. He had a passionate commitment to social justice, but ultimately lacked the political and personal skills to enact his ideals.

Alvin Jackson