Noël Browne
Noël Browne | |
|---|---|
Browne in 1948 | |
| Minister for Health | |
| In office 18 February 1948 – 11 April 1951 | |
| Taoiseach | John A. Costello |
| Preceded by | James Ryan |
| Succeeded by | John A. Costello |
| Leader of the National Progressive Democrats | |
| In office 23 July 1958 – 4 April 1963 | |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1981 – February 1982 | |
| Constituency | Dublin North-Central |
| In office June 1977 – June 1981 | |
| Constituency | Dublin Artane |
| In office June 1969 – February 1973 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-East |
| In office March 1957 – April 1965 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-East |
| In office February 1948 – May 1954 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-East |
| Senator | |
| In office 1 June 1973 – 16 June 1977 | |
| Constituency | Dublin University |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 December 1915 Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | 21 May 1997 (aged 81) Baile na hAbhann, County Galway, Ireland |
| Party | Independent (1951–1953, 1957–1958, 1977) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse |
Phyllis Harrison (m. 1944) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Beaumont College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
| Profession | Medical doctor |
Noël Christopher Browne (20 December 1915 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish medical doctor and politician who served as Minister for Health from 1948 to 1951 and Leader of the National Progressive Democrats from 1958 to 1963. He was a TD over four periods between 1948 and 1982, and held a Seanad seat for the Dublin University constituency from 1973 to 1977.
Having grown up in poverty, he qualified as a medical doctor in the 1940s. He entered politics to bring attention to tuberculosis, which had killed both his parents and most of his siblings. On his first day in Dáil Éireann in 1948, he was appointed Minister for Health. Browne is credited with waging a successful total war on tuberculosis, but his attempt to implement the Mother and Child Scheme led to his resignation from the government in 1951 and remains a highly controversial episode in Irish political history.
Browne was an outspoken and high-profile figure over more than three decades in the Oireachtas, representing five political parties, founding two, serving in both houses and losing his seat twice. During his time in politics he continued to work as a medical doctor, first in sanatoria and later as a psychiatrist.
Despite having a propensity for feuding and umbrage-taking, Browne is credited as having been a progressive force in Irish public life. He opposed corporal punishment and Apartheid in South Africa, and his advocacy of secularism, abortion rights and LGBT equality preceded these views becoming mainstream in Ireland.