Michael Bell (Irish politician)

Michael Bell (1 October 1936 – 20 May 2011) was an Irish Labour Party politician.^[1] Bell was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency at the November 1982 general election and retained his seat until losing it at the 2002 general election.^[2] He was a trade union official before entering politics. He served on Drogheda Corporation and Louth County Council and was mayor of Drogheda between 1983 and 1984. He died in May 2011.^[3]

Michael Bell
Teachta Dála
In office November 1982 – May 2002
Constituency	Louth
Personal details
Born	(1936-10-01)1 October 1936 County Louth, Ireland
Died	20 May 2011(2011-05-20) (aged 74) County Louth, Ireland
Political party	Labour Party
Military service
Allegiance	Ireland
Branch/service	Army Reserve
Years of service	1954–1983
Rank	Quartermaster

His wife, Betty, served on Louth County Council with him from 1991-99 having been also elected for the party in the Drogheda area. Their nephew, Paul, twice served as Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council and also as Mayor of Drogheda and is currently a member of the Labour Court.

Bell served with the Local Defence Force (FCÁ) for 29 years, in which he completed a full-time stint on the Irish border between 1969 and 1970 during The Troubles as a senior NCO and had overseen the care of 1,100 Northern Irish refugees at Gormanston Camp in County Meath.^[4][5]

It was as a result of his years of service on the Border that prompted Bell to consider suing the state for deafness to his ears. This prompted considerable embarrassment within the Labour Party at the time of his suit against the Department of Defence as he was their Defence Spokesperson and he was asked to withdraw his case having threatened publicly to rejoin Fianna Fáil at the time. It remains unclear if South Louth Fianna Fáil would have re-admitted the Deputy.^[6]