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==Political career==
==Political career==
A member of the [[Fine Gael]] party, Fox was first elected to [[Monaghan County Council]] in 1967, and as a Fine Gael [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) to the [[19th Dáil]] for the [[Monaghan (Dáil Éireann constituency)|Monaghan]] constituency at the [[Irish general election, 1969|1969 general election]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2800|title=Billy Fox|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=5 November 2012}}</ref> He lost his seat at [[Irish general election, 1973|1973 general election]] but later that year was elected to the 13th [[Seanad Éireann|Seanad]] by the [[Cultural and Educational Panel]]. Fox was also one of a handful of members of the [[Oireachtas]] from the minority Protestant community.
A member of the [[Fine Gael]] party, Fox was first elected to [[Monaghan County Council]] in 1967, and as a Fine Gael [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) to the [[19th Dáil]] for the [[Monaghan (Dáil Éireann constituency)|Monaghan]] constituency at the [[Irish general election, 1969|1969 general election]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2800|title=Billy Fox|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=5 November 2012}}</ref> He lost his seat at [[Irish general election, 1973|1973 general election]] but later that year was elected to the 13th [[Seanad Éireann|Seanad]] by the [[Cultural and Educational Panel]]. Fox was also one of a handful of members of the [[Oireachtas]] from [[Ireland]]'s minority [[Ulster Protestant]] community.


==Death==
==Death==

Revision as of 16:35, 8 September 2013

For other people named Billy Fox, see Billy Fox (disambiguation).
Billy Fox
Dáil Éireann
In office
June 1969 – February 1973
ConstituencyMonaghan
Seanad Éireann
In office
1 June 1973 – 12 March 1974
ConstituencyCultural and Educational Panel
Personal details
Born(1939-01-03)3 January 1939
County Monaghan, Ireland
Died12 March 1974(1974-03-12) (aged 35)
Tircooney, County Monaghan
Political partyFine Gael

Billy Fox (3 January 1939 – 12 March 1974) was an Irish politician and a member of Dáil Éireann from 1969 to 1973,[1] and of Seanad Éireann from 1973 until he was shot dead by a group of up to 13 gunmen in March 1974. Responsibility for his death has been disputed, with the Provisional IRA,[2][3] the Ulster Freedom Fighters,[4] and the Official IRA[5] each being blamed. Five members of the Provisional IRA were convicted of his murder.

Political career

A member of the Fine Gael party, Fox was first elected to Monaghan County Council in 1967, and as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) to the 19th Dáil for the Monaghan constituency at the 1969 general election.[6] He lost his seat at 1973 general election but later that year was elected to the 13th Seanad by the Cultural and Educational Panel. Fox was also one of a handful of members of the Oireachtas from Ireland's minority Ulster Protestant community.

Death

On 12 March 1974, he went to visit the home of his fiancée in rural County Monaghan, as he habitually did every Monday. Thirteen armed paramilitaries had occupied the house in Tircooney (near Clones). He ran from the scene but was followed and shot dead.

Responsibility for the assassination was claimed at the time by the Ulster Freedom Fighters who claimed that Senator Fox had links to the Provisional IRA.[4] However five members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army were subsequently convicted of murder. One of the convicted men, Sean Kinsella, later escaped from Portlaoise Prison and was later convicted of arms offences and attempted murder in England. He was released by the Irish government under the Good Friday Agreement.[7] The author Tim Pat Coogan however suggests that it was the Official Irish Republican Army that was actually responsible.[5][8]

Fox was the first member of the Oireachtas to be assassinated since Minister for Justice Kevin O'Higgins by the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army in 1927. When John Bruton first became a TD in 1969 he shared an office with Billy Fox. Bruton has said that he is still angry at the murder.[9] The RTÉ documentary Rumours from Monaghan reports in detail on the circumstances of Fox's assassination by the IRA.[10] Fox was a Protestant and the motive for the assassination has been described as sectarian.[11][12]

The Senator Billy Fox Memorial Park in Aughnamullen is named in his memory.

References

  1. ^ "Mr. Billy Fox". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  2. ^ Lost Lives, McKittrick, Kelters, Feeney, Thornton & McVea, p. 426-7 - ISBN 978-1-84018-504-1
  3. ^ The Malcolm Sutton Index of Deaths states Fox was killed by the "Irish Republican Army", which, according to Sutton's categorisation, is "Provisional Irish Republican Army". (Official IRA killings are attributed to the "Official Irish Republican Army").
  4. ^ a b "Irish Senator Killed - Protestant Extremists claim Responsibility". Wilmington Morning Star. 13 March 1974. p. 5. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b The IRA, Tim Pat Coogan, p. 357 - ISBN 0-00-653155-5.
  6. ^ "Billy Fox". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  7. ^ Daily Telegraph Dublin frees nine IRA prisoners to aid peace talks
  8. ^ Tim Pat Coogan, Disillusioned Decades, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1987. p520 - ISBN 0-09-941522-4.
  9. ^ Forgiveness is better than more inquiries: Bruton
  10. ^ "Rumours from Monaghan". RTÉ Radio 1.
  11. ^ Seanad Eireann Debate Vol. 181 No. 138 - Mr. B. Hayes
  12. ^ Badfellas by Paul Williams : quoting Paddy Cooney


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