Anne Colley

Anne Colley (born July 1951) is an Irish former politician who represented Dublin South from 1987 to 1989 for the Progressive Democrats.^[1]

Background

Anne Colley was born in Dublin in 1951. She studied Law at University College Dublin (UCD) and qualified as a solicitor. Her father George Colley, who was a senior Fianna Fáil politician, was closely aligned with Progressive Democrats (PD) founder Desmond O'Malley in the anti-Charles Haughey wing of the party. Her grandfather Harry Colley was also a TD.

Career

She first entered national politics as one of 14 Progressive Democrat TDs elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election, the first election after the party was founded. She was elected for the Dublin South constituency.^[2] The party proved popular, surpassing the Labour Party, to become the third-biggest party in the Dáil.

Colley was appointed party spokesperson on Institutional Reform, Labour and the Public Service and in 1988 became spokesperson on Justice. She lost her seat at the 1989 general election and retired from politics.

Colley Report

In 2006 she was appointed by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to chair a working group on Civil unions in Ireland.^[3][4] Officially called the Options Paper on Cohabiting Couples, (2006) (Dept of Justice, Equality and Law Reform), the paper became known as the Colley Report.^[5]

References