Garret FitzGerald (born 9 February 1926) was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving two terms in office (July 1981 to February 1982; December 1982 to March 1987). FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald was the leader of Fine Gael between 1977 and 1987.He is the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first Minister for External Affairs of the nascent Irish state following independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. At present, FitzGerald is the President of the Institute of International and European Affairs. He has a column in The Irish Times and occasionally appears on television programmes such as Tonight with Vincent Browne.
