Mark Killilea
Killilea c. 1980s
Minister of State
1979–1981Posts and Telegraphs
Member of the European Parliament
In office
31 March 1987 – 11 June 1999
ConstituencyConnacht–Ulster
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1981 – February 1982
ConstituencyGalway West
In office
July 1977 – June 1981
ConstituencyGalway East
Senator
In office
13 May 1982 – 31 March 1987
In office
5 November 1969 – 26 May 1977
ConstituencyLabour Panel
Personal details
Born(1939-09-05)5 September 1939
Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
Died31 December 2018(2018-12-31) (aged 79)
Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Anne Severs
​
(m. 1966)​
Children10
OccupationFarmer

Mark Killilea Jnr (5 September 1939 – 31 December 2018) was a farmer, auctioneer and agricultural contractor[1] who served as an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. In a 30-year political career, served as a Teachta Dála (TD) and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and also as a Senator.[2]

Biography

Mark Killilea was born in Tuam, County Galway in 1939. He married Anne Severs in 1966. His father Mark Killilea Snr was a Fianna Fáil TD and a founder-member of the party. Killilea Jnr was educated locally and first held political office in August 1969, when he was elected to Seanad Éireann on the Labour Panel and re-elected in 1973. He failed to be elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt when he stood in Galway North-East at the 1973 general election, but at the 1977 general election he won a seat in the new Galway East constituency.[3] The election was a landslide for Fianna Fáil and in particular showed the popularity of the party leader Jack Lynch.

However, after just two years Lynch's fortunes had changed. Along with Jackie Fahey, Tom McEllistrim, Seán Doherty and Albert Reynolds, Killilea was one of the so-called "gang of five" that lobbied the parliamentary party for support for Charles Haughey in the event of the retirement of Lynch's retirement. This group was determined that the leadership should not pass to George Colley, Lynch's apparent successor. Haughey went on to win the leadership contest and become Taoiseach in December 1979.

Killilea's loyalty to Haughey was rewarded by his being appointed Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs after Haughey became Taoiseach. He held this position until Fianna Fáil's defeat at the 1981 general election—at which, after changes in constituency boundaries, he switched to the Galway West constituency.

He lost his Dáil seat there at the February 1982 general election, but was elected to the Seanad where he served until 1987. After Ray MacSharry retired from the European Parliament in 1987, Killilea was appointed as his replacement in the Connacht–Ulster constituency. Killilea held the seat at the 1989 and 1994 European Parliament elections, and was elected as Quaestor by his fellow MEPs in 1996. He retired from politics at the 1999 European Parliament election.

Untold Secrets allegations

In 2021, an Irish documentary, Untold Secrets, reported the testimony of Anne Silke, a survivor of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, that she had been physically assaulted by Killilea Jnr on several occasions while in the foster care of his parents Mark Killilea Snr and his wife. She said several instances saw Killilea Jnr lash her with a horsewhip until she was bloody.[4] Donagh Killilea, a son of Killlilea Jnr said that the allegations by Silke were "unverified" and "inaccurate".[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Mark Killilea obituary". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Mark Killilea Jnr". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Mark Killilea Jnr". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 Hogan, Caelainn (26 July 2021). "Anne Silke: Fostered to a Fianna Fáil TD, beaten and abused". Irish Examiner.
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