Mervyn Taylor Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Net Worth, Family, Obituary, Cause of Death, Parents, Funeral, Party, Nationality, Ethnicity

Mervyn Taylor Biography – Mervyn Taylor Wiki

Mervyn Taylor was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Equality and Law Reform from 1993 to 1994 and from 1994 to 1997 and Minister for Labour in January 1993. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1981 to 1997. He was the first-ever cabinet minister in Ireland who was Jewish.

He worked for Herman Good Solicitors, alongside Herman Good and future district judge Hubert Wine. Good’s involvement in the Labour Party was instrumental in Taylor getting involved in politics. Taylor later established his own firm of Taylor and Buchalter Solicitors with the late Don Buchalter and practised as a solicitor for over 50 years before retiring from active practice in his 70s. He continued as a consultant to the firm of Taylor and Buchalter Solicitors for most of his 70s.

He was elected to Dublin County Council in the 1970s and became Chairman of the Council. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South-West at the 1981 general election, on his third attempt. He then held the seat at every election until his retirement from politics in 1997.

He was Chairman of the Labour Party from 1987 to 1991, and Labour chief whip, from 1981 to 1988. He was assistant government chief whip from 1981 to 1982, and again from 1982 to 1987. In 1993 he was appointed as Minister for Labour for a brief period and then served as Minister for Equality and Law Reform during the two governments of 1993–94 and 1994–97.

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

His other major project was the introduction of two wide-ranging anti-discrimination measures, the Employment Equality Bill and the Equal Status Bill. These were struck down by the Supreme Court but revised versions were approved by the Government in the final months of Taylor’s term of office, and were ultimately published and enacted during the following Dáil term.

Legislation introduced by him and enacted during his term of office included; the Interpretation (Amendment) Act 1993 – providing for gender-inclusive language in Acts of the Oireachtas, and the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995, which provided for divorce in the Constitution. He was educated at Zion School, Wesley College and at Trinity College Dublin where he qualified as a solicitor.

Mervyn Taylor Age

He was born on December 28, 1931, in Dublin, Ireland and died on September 23, 2021. He was 89 years.

Mervyn Taylor Wife

He married his wife Marilyn Taylor in 1962. Marilyn is the author of numerous books for young people. They had three children and eight grandchildren.

Mervyn Taylor Children

They had two sons, and a daughter named Adam, Gideon and Maryanne and eight grandchildren.

Mervyn Taylor Family

Taylor was born to a Jewish family in Dublin.

Mervyn Taylor Death

He died on September 23, 2021, aged 89. Tributes to Taylor were led by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, describing him as “one of the most gracious, unselfish and kindest members ever to serve in the Dáil”.

President Michael D Higgins, a former cabinet colleague of Mr Taylor’s, said he was an “icon in the struggle for equality – I was honoured to share a building with him on Mespil Road.” Mr Higgins went on to describe Mr Taylor as a man of the “utmost principle, steadfastness, courage and courtesy” who had gifts of patience and attention to detail.

The President added: “His passing is an immense loss, first and foremost to his family but also to all those who have worked, and continue to work, towards a more inclusive, more equal and fairer society. “Mervyn Taylor will be remembered by all those who had the privilege of working with him, as a distinguished public servant who served with such dedication, as one of the most gracious, unselfish and kindest members ever to serve in the Dáil.”

Mervyn Taylor Cause of Death

He died as a result of cancer, at the Adelaide Medical Centre in London. He died on September 23, 2021, aged 89.