Obituary: Michael D’Arcy, former TD from Wexford who represented county and country for over 50 years

He served as minister of state ­for agriculture for two years in the Garret FitzGerald administration that ran from 1981 to February 1982, and then in the November 1982 to 1986 government he served as minister of state for fisheries and forestry, and also at the Department of the Gaeltacht.

Michael Joseph D’Arcy was born into a family farm at Annagh, outside Gorey, Co Wexford, on March 7, 1934. His political career started in 1958 after his father, Timothy Francis D’Arcy, died. He had been a member of Wexford County Council at the time and a meeting of Gorey members of the Fine Gael party appointed a replacement on the night after his burial.

However, this was later declared void because one of the branch officials had not received notification of the meeting.

A new meeting of the local FG organisation was called, and a majority chose Michael D’Arcy over another contender. He was ­co-opted on to his father’s council seat, where he served for several decades.

He was election agent for Billy Rackard in Wexford at the 1965 general election, but the famed hurler didn’t win a seat.

D’Arcy’s first attempt at membership of Dáil Éireann was in the 1973 general election, in which he came fifth in the race in the Wexford constituency, which was a four-seater at the time. The only Fine Gael candidate to get elected on that occasion was John Esmonde — or, to give him his full name, Sir John Henry Grattan Esmonde, whose father had previously held the seat for 22 years and whose family were prominent in history, with one of his forebears having been hanged by the British for participating in the 1798 uprising.

The next general election, in 1977, saw a landslide for Fianna Fáil, though Fine Gael still held its single seat in Wexford, but this time with a different candidate: D’Arcy got 4,541 first preferences compared with Esmonde’s 4,142 and stayed ahead until the sixth count, when he was elected.

Fine Gael had a much better run in the June 1981 general election when D’Arcy topped the poll with 10,290 first preferences — almost 20.7pc of the vote in what was now a five-seat constituency. His transfers helped bring party colleague Ivan Yates over the line as well.

Those were unsettled times, and when a fresh general election took place eight months later in February 1982, D’Arcy held on to his seat without needing any transfers and was closely followed by Yates, who got in on the second count.

Nine months later, in November 1982, it was back to the ballot box yet again, and both D’Arcy and Yates were re-elected on the fifth count, closely followed by new Fine Gael candidate Avril Doyle. It was the first and so far only time Fine Gael won three Dáil seats in the Model County.

In February 1986, then taoiseach Garret FitzGerald informed the Dáil he had accepted the resignations of D’Arcy and two others from their positions as ministers of state. It subsequently emerged that D’Arcy and Cork TD Donal Creed had not submitted their resignations. FitzGerald then had to formally dismiss them. Avril Doyle was one of the new junior ministers.

D’Arcy lost his Dáil seat in the February 1987 general election when Avril Doyle came in ahead of him.

The situation was reversed in June 1989 when D’Arcy won the seat back and Doyle lost out. She won back the seat in the November 1992 contest and D’Arcy was off the list after the fourth count.

He was elected a senator (on the Agricultural Panel) in February 1997, serving in the Upper House until the June 1997 general election when he was the third candidate to be elected and Doyle lost her seat. However, both of them were unsuccessful in the 2002 contest when Yates didn’t run, and newcomer Paul Kehoe was the only Fine Gael candidate to get elected.

Subsequently, Doyle focused her political attention exclusively on her role as a member of the European Parliament, while her party rival retired from national politics.

His son, Michael William D’Arcy, won a Dáil seat in 2007, which he lost in 2011 but regained in 2016 — before losing it again in 2020. He served as a minister of state at the Department of Finance from 2016 to 2020 and also got elected twice to the Seanad after losing his Dáil seat, resigning in September 2020 to take up a position as chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers, which he still holds.

In a comment to the Sunday Independent during the week, Avril Doyle said: “I have known Michael and his family for almost 50 years. We were good friends on Wexford County Council in the Seventies and again over the last 20 years or so. However, in the interim, we and our respective teams had a very ‘competitive’ political relationship... the joys of the multi-seat PR electoral system.”

​Humorously recalling that “there was no one more enthusiastic to see me off to Brussels” than Mick D’Arcy, she continued: “It’s all over now. Having served his county and country as a consummate public servant in many roles over many years, may he rest in peace after a long life well-lived.”

In 1999, he was elected for the first time to Gorey Town Council and was elected chairperson in 2012. He chaired the council’s last-ever meeting at the Market House in May 2014.

Expressing condolences on his death, former Fine Gael leader and finance minister Alan Dukes said: “He was a warm friend and a great coll­eague. He brought great energy and dedication to serving the public and his constituency.”

Labour TD and former health minister Brendan Howlin said: “I had the privilege of serving with Michael and representing Wexford. An honour­able man who loved his county and his country. He served both with distinction.”

Former justice minister and Fianna Fáil TD Gerard Collins said Michael D’Arcy was “always a gentleman and held in the highest regard by all”.

Former Progressive Democrats senator Cathy Honan, speaking also on behalf of her husband Adrian, said: “I have very fond memories of my time with him in the Senate, always so helpful and kind. A great example of what a politician should be.”

Independent TD for Roscommon- Galway Denis Naughten said: “He was a stalwart in Wexford politics for so many years and I learned much from him in my early days.”

Michael Joseph D’Arcy died peacefully on May 1 at Oakfield nursing home in Courtown, Co Wexford, after a short illness.

He was the beloved husband of Marie and loving father of Jude, Michael, Liam and the late Shirley, brother of Peggy, Emily, Nora, Frank and the late Jim and grandfather of Alex, Aoife, Ashley, Bill, Siobhan, Marie, Judith, Paddy, Catherine, Luke and Alyssa.

His funeral mass took place at St Peter and Paul’s Church in Kilanerin on May 3, followed by burial in nearby Limbrick Cemetery.