Mervyn Taylor - Definition and Overview

Mervyn Taylor (b.1931, former Irish Labour Party TD)

Mervyn Taylor was born in December 1931 in Dublin. He was educated at Zion School and Wesley College, Dublin and at Trinity College Dublin where he qualified as a solicitor. He was elected Labour Party TD for Dublin South-West in 1981 and held the seat at every election until his retirement from politics in 1997. He was Labour chief whip from 1981 until 1988 and assistant government chief whip from 1981 to 1982 and again from 1982 until 1987. In 1993 he was appointed Minister for Equality and Law Reform.

In 1995 he had charge of the government proposal to remove from the constitution the prohibition of divorce legislation, steering the relevant bills through Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann and winning the subsequent referendum by the narrow margin of 0.5 per cent. In the course of the campaign, he survived criticism from opponents of the measure directed at his Jewish faith, and a Supreme Court ruling that public monies could not properly be spent in promoting the government’s opinion on a referendum proposal.

Taylor retired from politics in 1997.

Political Career