For those of a similar name, see Michael Yates (disambiguation).
Michael Yeats
OfficeCathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann
Term start5 November 1969
Term end3 January 1973
PredecessorLiam Ó Buachalla
SuccessorMicheál Cranitch
Office 2Senator
Term start 227 October 1977
Term end 212 March 1980
Constituency 2Nominated by the Taoiseach
Term start 35 November 1969
Term end 327 October 1977
Constituency 3Cultural and Educational Panel
Term start 423 June 1965
Term end 45 November 1969
Constituency 4Nominated by the Taoiseach
Term start 514 December 1961
Term end 523 June 1965
Constituency 5Labour Panel
Term start 614 August 1951
Term end 622 July 1954
Constituency 6Nominated by the Taoiseach
Office 7Member of the European Parliament
Term start 7January 1973
Term end 7June 1979
Constituency 7Oireachtas Delegation
Birth date22 August 1921
Birth placeThame, Oxfordshire, England
Death date3 January 2007 (aged 85)
Death placeDublin, Ireland
PartyFianna Fáil
SpouseGráinne Yeats
Parents
EducationSt Columba's College, Dublin
Alma materTrinity College Dublin

Michael Butler Yeats (22 August 1921 – 3 January 2007) was an Irish barrister and Fianna Fáil politician.[1][2] He served two periods as a member of Seanad Éireann.

Biography

Early life

His was the son of W. B. Yeats, a poet and Nobel Laureate who had served in the Seanad of the Irish Free State, and Georgie Hyde-Lees. His sister Anne Yeats was a painter and designer, as was his uncle Jack Butler Yeats. Michael was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, where he gained first class honours degree in history. He was an officer in the College Historical Society. He also qualified as a lawyer but did not practise.[3]

Political career

He unsuccessfully stood for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1948 general election and the 1951 general election for the Dublin South-East constituency.[4] Following the 1951 election, Yeats was nominated to the 7th Seanad by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. He stood at the subsequent election in 1954 for the 8th Seanad but was not elected.

From 1961 to 1980 he was a member of Seanad Éireann. In 1961 he was elected to the 10th Seanad on the Labour Panel. In 1965 he was nominated by the Taoiseach Seán Lemass to the 11th Seanad. In 1969 he was elected to the 12th Seanad on the Cultural and Educational Panel, and re-elected to the 13th Seanad in 1973.

In 1969, he was elected as Cathaoirleach of the 12th Seanad.[5] On 1 January 1973, he resigned as Cathaoirleach on his appointment as a member of the Irish delegation in the European Parliament, while continuing as a member of the Seanad.[6] He also served in the second and third delegations.

In 1977, he was nominated by the Taoiseach Jack Lynch to the 14th Seanad. He stood at the first direct elections in 1979 for the Dublin constituency but was not elected.[4]

He resigned from the Seanad on 12 March 1980,[7] taking up office in April 1980 as Director General of the EEC Council of Ministers in Brussels in the 1980s.[3][8]

Personal life

He was married to Gráinne Ní Éigeartaigh, a singer and Irish harpist. They had four children; three daughters and a son.[3]

He died on 4 January 2007.[9][10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Michael Yeats". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived 2018-11-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  2. ^ King, Helena (June 2016). "Yeats, (William) Michael Butler". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.009839.v1. Archived 8 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Michael Yeats". The Independent. 10 January 2007. Archived 14 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Michael Yeats". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Election of Cathaoirleach". Seanad Debates – Vol. 67 No. 1. 5 November 1969.
  6. ^ "Vacancy in Office of Cathaoirleach". Seanad Debates – Vol. 74 No. 1. 3 January 1973. Archived 5 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Resignation of Member". Seanad Debates – Vol. 93 No. 11. 12 March 1980.
  8. ^ Grove, Lloyd (13 April 1986). "In the Shadow of W. B. Years". Washington Post
  9. ^ Mac Cormaic, Ruadhán (4 January 2007). "Michael Yeats, son of poet, dies". The Irish Times. Archived 20 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Son of a poet who forged his own political path". The Irish Times. 6 January 2007. Archived 23 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Former Senator Michael Yeats dies, aged 86". RTÉ News. 3 January 2007.

Sources

  • Cast a Cold Eye (autobiography), Dublin: Blackwater Press, ISBN 0-86121-968-6.