View source for Dick Spring

{{Short description|Irish former Labour Party leader (born 1950)}}
{{distinguish|Dick Springer}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image         = Dick Spring 1995 (headshot).jpg
| caption       = Spring in 1995
| office        = [[Tánaiste]]
| taoiseach     = [[John Bruton]]
| term_start    = 15 December 1994
| term_end      = 26 June 1997
| predecessor   = [[Bertie Ahern]]
| successor     = [[Mary Harney]]
| taoiseach1    = [[Albert Reynolds]]
| term_start1   = 12 January 1993
| term_end1     = 17 November 1994
| predecessor1  = [[John Wilson (Irish politician)|John Wilson]]
| successor1    = Bertie Ahern
| taoiseach2    = [[Garret FitzGerald]]
| term_start2   = 14 December 1982
| term_end2     = 20 January 1987
| predecessor2  = [[Ray MacSharry]]
| successor2    = [[Peter Barry (politician)|Peter Barry]]
| office3       = [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
| taoiseach3    = John Bruton
| term_start3   = 15 December 1994
| term_end3     = 26 June 1997
| predecessor3  = Albert Reynolds
| successor3    = [[Ray Burke (Irish politician)|Ray Burke]]
| taoiseach4    = Albert Reynolds
| term_start4   = 12 January 1993
| term_end4     = 17 November 1994
| predecessor4  = David Andrews
| successor4    = Albert Reynolds
| office5       = [[Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland)|Leader of the Labour Party]]
| deputy5       = {{Ubl|[[Barry Desmond]]|[[Ruairi Quinn]]}}
| term_start5   = 1 November 1982
| term_end5     = 13 November 1997
| predecessor5  = [[Michael O'Leary (politician)|Michael O'Leary]]
| successor5    = Ruairi Quinn
| office6       = [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for the Environment]]
| taoiseach6    = Garret FitzGerald
| term_start6   = 14 December 1982
| term_end6     = 13 December 1983
| predecessor6  = [[Ray Burke (Irish politician)|Ray Burke]]
| successor6    = [[Liam Kavanagh]]
| office7       = [[Minister of State (Ireland)|Minister of State]]
| suboffice7    = [[Minister of State at the Department of Justice|Justice]]
| subterm7      = 1981–1982
| office8       = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start8   = [[1981 Irish general election|June 1981]]
| term_end8     = [[2002 Irish general election|May 2002]]
| constituency8 = [[Kerry North (Dáil constituency)|Kerry North]]
| birth_name    = Richard Martin Spring
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1950|08|29|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Tralee]], [[County Kerry]], Ireland
| death_date    =
| death_place   =
| nationality   = [[Irish people|Irish]]
| party         = [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]]
| spouse        = {{marriage|Kristi Hutcheson|1978}}
| children      = 3
| father        = [[Dan Spring]]
| relatives     = {{Ubl|[[Donal Spring]] (brother)|[[Arthur Spring]] (nephew)}}
| education     = [[Cistercian College, Roscrea]]
| alma_mater    = {{Ubl|[[King's Inns]]|[[Trinity College Dublin]]}}
|}}
'''Richard Martin Spring''' (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish former politician. He was a [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) for the [[Kerry North (Dáil constituency)|Kerry North]]  from 1981 to 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997. He served as [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for the Environment]] (1982–83), [[Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media|Minister for Energy]] (1983–87) and [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] (1993–Nov. 1994, Dec. 1994–97). He served as [[Tánaiste]] during those three governments.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Dick-Spring.D.1981-06-30/|title=Dick Spring|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=24 September 2010|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184954/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Dick-Spring.D.1981-06-30/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prior to his political career, Spring was a successful sportsman who played for the [[Ireland national rugby union team]] and the [[Kerry GAA]] football and hurling teams.

==Early life==
Spring was born in [[Tralee]], [[County Kerry]] in 1950, the son of [[Dan Spring|Dan]] and Anna Spring ({{nee|Laide}}). He was educated at [[Cistercian College, Roscrea|Cistercian College]] in [[Roscrea]], [[County Tipperary]], and at [[Trinity College Dublin]], and qualified as a barrister at the [[King's Inns]]. He is a descendant of the [[Anglo-Irish]] [[Spring family]] that settled in County Kerry in the late 16th century.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael C. |last=O'Laughlin |title=Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland |publisher=Irish Roots Cafe |date=1994 |pages=137–138}}</ref>

==Sporting career==
Spring played [[Gaelic football]] and [[hurling]] for [[Kerry GAA|Kerry]] during the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0227/1203619485880.html|title=How rugby put Spring in step|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=27 February 2008|access-date=8 March 2009|archive-date=12 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012154757/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0227/1203619485880.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He played his club football with the [[Kerins O'Rahilly's]] club in [[Tralee]] and hurling with [[Crotta O'Neill's]]; he also played underage hurling with Austin Stacks and won a minor county championship in 1967. His father [[Dan Spring|Dan]] won two [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]]s in [[1939 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|1939]] and [[1940 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|1940]].

He then won [[rugby union]] caps for [[Munster Rugby|Munster]], and lined out for [[London Irish]] in the UK. He also was capped for [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland]] three times during the [[1979 Five Nations Championship]], debuting against {{nrut|France}} on 20 January 1979 at [[Lansdowne Road]], and receiving his last international cap on 17 February 1979 against {{nrut|England}} at [[Lansdowne Road]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/rugby/player/8212.html|title=Ireland/Players & Officials/Dick Spring|work=ESPN Scrum dot Com|date=28 February 2011|access-date=4 July 2012|archive-date=19 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719202001/http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/rugby/player/8212.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Political career==
===Early career===
Spring's political life began when he successfully contested the [[1979 Kerry County Council election]] for the [[county electoral area]] of [[Tralee]], succeeding his father Dan Spring TD on [[Kerry County Council]] that year. Spring senior had been a TD for [[Kerry North (Dáil constituency)|Kerry North]] since 1943, mostly representing Labour, but he was a member of the [[National Labour Party (Ireland)|National Labour Party]] from 1944 to 1950.

He was first elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] in the [[1981 Irish general election|1981 general election]] for the constituency of Kerry North, again succeeding his father.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3357|title=Dick Spring|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=24 September 2010|archive-date=21 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221170053/http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3357|url-status=live}}</ref> The Labour Party formed a coalition Government with [[Fine Gael]] and Spring was appointed a [[Minister of State (Ireland)|junior minister]] on his [[Records of members of the Oireachtas#People appointed as Minister of State at the start of their first term as TD|first day as a TD]].

===Leadership===
When [[Michael O'Leary (politician)|Michael O'Leary]] resigned as party leader after the [[February 1982 Irish general election|February 1982 general election]], Spring allowed his name to go forward in the leadership contest. He defeated [[Barry Desmond]] and [[Michael D. Higgins]], but inherited the leadership of a deeply divided party. Spring was a strong opponent of anti-coalition politics and systematically removed [[Trotskyist]] activists from the party. Most notably he expelled the Militant Tendency in 1989 (which later became [[Socialist Party (Ireland)|Socialist Party]]), including [[Joe Higgins (politician)|Joe Higgins]] and [[Clare Daly]].

===Tánaiste (1982–1987)===
Following the [[November 1982 Irish general election|November 1982 general election]] Labour again formed a coalition government with Fine Gael. Spring was appointed [[Tánaiste]] and [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for the Environment]]. In a reshuffle following the resignation from cabinet of former Labour leader [[Frank Cluskey]] in December 1983, Spring was appointed as [[Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media|Minister for Energy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1983-12-13/10/|title=Nomination of Member of Government: Motion|date=13 December 1983|access-date=24 January 2020|work=Dáil Debates – Vol. 346 No. 9|archive-date=17 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817123215/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1983-12-13/10/|url-status=live}}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1983-12-13/17/|title=Appointment and Reassignment of Ministers: Announcement by Taoiseach|date=13 December 1983|access-date=24 January 2020|work=Dáil Debates – Vol. 346 No. 9|archive-date=24 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124224218/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1983-12-13/17/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was closely involved in the negotiations which led to the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] in 1985. In January 1987, the Labour Party withdrew from the government on budgetary issues. At the [[1987 Irish general election|1987 general election]], Spring narrowly escaped losing his seat when he was re-elected by just four votes. [[Fianna Fáil]] took office in a minority government after the election.

===Opposition===
The Labour Party selected [[Mary Robinson]] as its candidate in the [[1990 Irish presidential election|1990 presidential election]]. Robinson was elected, and this success enhanced the credibility of his leadership of the party. For Spring, his period in opposition coincided with the exposure of a number of business scandals and allowed him to shine as a critic of the Fianna Fáil government, led by [[Charles Haughey]].

==="Spring Tide" and return to power===
[[File:Photograph of President William J. Clinton and Irish Deputy Prime Minister Dick Spring in the Office of Anthony "Tony" Lake at the White House, 11-16-1993 (6175659439).jpg|thumb|right|Spring with US President [[Bill Clinton]] in 1993]]
In the [[1992 Irish general election|1992 general election]] the party increased its number of Dáil seats from 15 to 33, its largest number of seats to that point, an achievement dubbed the "Spring Tide". After the election, no government was formed when the [[27th Dáil]] met. After some weeks of stalemate, Spring entered negotiations with [[Albert Reynolds]]—who had taken over as [[Taoiseach]] from Haughey in February 1992—over the Christmas period on a new programme for government. This was approved by a special party conference of over 1,000 delegates at Dublin's [[National Concert Hall]] in January 1993, though there were some Labour Party TDs who dissented from the leadership position and wanted a coalition with Fine Gael. The Labour Party entered a coalition government with Fianna Fáil, and thus returned Reynolds to power. Spring was appointed Tánaiste for the second time, and also as [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]].

Labour took six of the fifteen cabinet ministries and had much of its election manifesto accepted by Fianna Fáil. Labour ministers led the new [[Minister for Labour (Ireland)|Departments of Equality and Law Reform]] and the reformed of [[Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth|Arts and Culture]]. Ethics legislation was to outlaw conflicts of interest. Male homosexual acts [[LGBT rights in the Republic of Ireland|were to be decriminalised]]. [[Contraception in the Republic of Ireland|Purchase of condoms]] without medical prescription was to be allowed. An extensive programme of family law reform and provision for a divorce referendum was to be undertaken. Spring insisted on a formalised system of programme managers, and state-paid advisers to push the new government's policy platform.

However support for the Labour Party declined, particularly as many voters felt betrayed at Labour for going into government with Fianna Fáil.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} In June 1994, the Labour Party performed disastrously in by-elections in [[1994 Dublin South-Central by-election|Dublin South-Central]] and in [[1994 Cork North-Central by-election|Cork North-Central]]. In both cases the seats were won by [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]]. This had grave implications for the electoral health of the party and therefore for the policy of the Labour leadership.

In late 1994, Reynolds wished to appoint the [[Attorney General of Ireland|Attorney General]], [[Harry Whelehan]], as President of the [[High Court (Ireland)|High Court]], but delayed for over a month. Spring had reservations about Whelehan being suitable, owing to the alleged laxity of his handling of a particular child abuse criminal case, involving a disgraced Catholic priest. Reynolds for his part could not understand why Spring was against Whelehan being nominated to the High Court, and yet had no concerns with Whelehan serving as Attorney General. Reynolds became annoyed with Spring's stance, his failure to communicate his reservations, and decided to proceed anyway, whilst calling Spring's bluff. Spring and the other Labour ministers withdrew from the cabinet meeting which proceeded to recommend Whelehan's appointment to the President. Immediately afterward, Reynolds implemented the decision.

There followed a rather heated discussion in the Dáil, concerning the appointment. Fine Gael asked questions about Whelehan's suitability and objectivity. This was supportive of Spring's position. Democratic Left TD [[Pat Rabbitte]] then implied that the Catholic hierarchy were instructing Reynolds to appoint Whelehan. Reynolds became irate with this allegation, and responded angrily. Reynolds now realised that Spring was uncompromising about Whelehan. In an effort to remain in government, Reynolds removed Whelehan; however, Spring refused to go back into government with Reynolds. Whelehan served as President of the High Court for one day.

Spring proceeded to withdraw from government. The minority Reynolds government then lost a vote of confidence in the Dáil. Reynolds resigned as party leader, but continued as a caretaker Taoiseach. Spring entered into negotiations with Reynolds' successor as party, [[Bertie Ahern]], the [[Minister for Finance (Ireland)|Minister for Finance]]. In early December, they agreed to reform the Fianna Fáil–Labour Government. On the eve of that government being formed, ''[[The Irish Times]]'' published a report that Ahern knew more about an aspect of the scandal that had brought down Reynolds than had previously been known. Spring broke off negotiations with Fianna Fáil, and instead pursued negotiations to form a coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left. In December 1994, Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left formed a coalition government, referred to as the [[24th government of Ireland|Rainbow Coalition]], forestalling the possibility of an election. Spring returned to his positions as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. This was the first occasion on which a new Irish government was formed without a general election. The previous Fianna Fáil and Labour Programme for Government was substantially adopted by the new government and in return for making [[John Bruton]] the Taoiseach, [[Ruairi Quinn]] of Labour became the first-ever Labour Minister for Finance.

During his period as Foreign Minister, Spring played a role in the [[Northern Ireland peace process]], and along with Reynolds was involved in negotiations leading to the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] and [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] ceasefires of 1994. With Reynolds, he received warm applause in the Dáil on the announcement of the [[Downing Street Declaration]] in December 1993. He also advanced Ireland's membership of the [[Partnership for Peace]], a sister organization of [[NATO]], a controversial issue due to Ireland's policy of [[Neutral country|neutrality]].

===Resignation as party leader and defeat as TD===
In the [[1997 Irish general election|1997 general election]] the Labour Party fell to 17 seats and returned to opposition. This was considered by some to be a punishment by the electorate for the 1993 decision to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil. By others, it was considered a punishment for changing horses at the end of 1994, in order to remain in power. A front-page editorial in the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' on the day before the election, entitled "Payback Time" and calling on support for Fianna Fáil, had a direct and severe impact on the Labour Party. The ''Independent'' newspaper group had revealed many scandals involving Labour ministers abusing the perks of office in the year leading up to the election. The article was controversial, because Spring had taken decisions in office which went against the broader business interests of the ''Independent'''s owner [[Anthony O'Reilly]], who was accused by Labour supporters of having attempted to use his paper's political influence to intimidate the government into favouring companies linked to O'Reilly. The impact of the article is uncertain but the Labour Party suffered significant electoral losses and the outgoing coalition was defeated. In the [[1997 Irish presidential election|presidential election of the same year]] the Labour Party candidate, [[Adi Roche]], came fourth out of five candidates. Following that defeat, Spring resigned as Labour Party leader, having served 15 years — one of the longest-serving party leaders of Ireland.

He remained a TD, being appointed a director in the formerly state-owned recently privatized telecommunications company [[Eircom]] in 1999. Its initial flotation led to a stock market bubble which affected a large number of small shareholders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0913/8894-eircom/|title=Eircom Directors heavily criticised by shareholders|work=RTÉ|access-date=24 April 2012|date=13 September 2000|archive-date=12 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312091950/http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0913/eircom.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was later revealed that he did not purchase shares in the company.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/spring-has-yet-to-invest-in-eircom-shares-516181.html | work=Irish Independent | title=Spring has yet to invest in Eircom shares | date=24 September 2000}}</ref>

Spring lost his seat in a shock result at the [[2002 Irish general election|2002 general election]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Dick Spring: 'I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing or hectoring young people' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2023/12/17/dick-spring-i-dont-want-to-sound-like-im-lecturing-or-hectoring-young-people/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> He has not sought political office since.

==Political legacy==
In Irish political circles, the role of foreign minister was considered a poisoned chalice because of the challenge of resolving the delicate problem of how to de-escalate tensions in Northern Ireland, when both sides were wary of Irish governmental policy. Albert Reynolds, and Dick Spring, placed Northern Ireland at the top of the government agenda. Both were helped considerably by the initiative of John Hume, and the understanding built up between Reynolds, and British Prime Minister [[John Major]]. Spring devoted considerable energy and resources towards increasing Ireland's international influence and diplomatic ties in UN, in the post [[Cold War]] world.

As Foreign Minister, there was much critical comment in the media on Spring's extensive foreign travel. Spring got even harsher criticism, for using the Government Jet to reduce journey times between his home in Tralee and his office in Dublin. However, he did conduct, for the first time, a public consultative process that involved a wide range of citizenry and social groups as well as members of the diaspora, in the re-shaping of Irish foreign policy through the first ever White Paper on Foreign Policy in 1996.<ref>Challenges and Opportunities Abroad - White Paper on Foreign Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Stationery Office, Dublin 1996 {{ISBN|0-7076-2385-5}}</ref>

Critics of Dick Spring have described him as a [[champagne socialist]], owing to his choice of the [[Waldorf Astoria Hotel]] when staying in New York as Foreign Minister, instead of staying in the then Irish-owned Fitzpatrick Hotel.<ref name=lift>{{cite news | url = http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/ogaras-lay-rift-rumours-to-rest-in-ny-1210902.html | title = O'Garas lay rift rumours to rest in NY | access-date = 18 January 2009 | date = 4 November 2007 | work = Irish Independent | archive-date = 26 November 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071126085540/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/ogaras-lay-rift-rumours-to-rest-in-ny-1210902.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Spring brought the Irish Labour Party unprecedented exposure and power in government, at a time when the two significantly larger right-of-centre political blocs had precedence in every election.

==Subsequent life==
Spring later became involved in the [[Cyprus dispute]] as a [[United Nations]] envoy.

Spring received a directorship appointment to the Irish state telecom enterprise, [[Eircom]], in advance of the scheduled privatisation. As leader of a left of centre party, this was to endorse the privatization, and gain consent from the labour unions to the privatisation plan. However the privatisation was a financial disaster for members of the public, who became ordinary shareholders in the privatisation process. Spring became the target for much of the discontent. Spring's low work involvement, and generous remuneration package, was openly described as 'scandalous', by shareholder advocate Senator [[Shane Ross]]. He continues to hold a directorship, with the Financial Services firm [[FEXCO]], based in [[Killorglin]], County Kerry.

Spring lives in Tralee with his wife Kristi ({{nee|Hutcheson}}), an American whom he met while working in New York as a bartender. They have three children. His nephew [[Arthur Spring]] was a Labour Party TD for [[Kerry North–West Limerick (Dáil constituency)|Kerry North–West Limerick]] until March 2016, having first been a councillor for the Tralee electoral area of [[Kerry County Council]]. Spring is a member of Ballybunion Golf Club, and has invited former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Bill Clinton]], amongst others, to visit there.

He is a director of [[Allied Irish Bank]] and receives annual pension payments of €121,108.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/thanks-big-fellas-ahern-and-cowen-get-massive-pensions-2931032.html|title=Thanks big fellas: Ahern and Cowen get massive pensions|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=10 November 2011|first=Fiach|last=Kelly|date=10 November 2011|archive-date=14 September 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914031001/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/thanks-big-fellas-ahern-and-cowen-get-massive-pensions-2931032.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Families in the Oireachtas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cci}}
*{{C-SPAN|20867}}

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{{s-ppo}}
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{{Navboxes|title=Dick Spring navigational boxes|list1=
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