Hugh Coveney

Hugh Coveney (20 July 1935 – 14 March 1998) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 1996 to 1997, Minister for the Marine and Minister for Defence from 1994 to 1995 and Lord Mayor of Cork from 1982 to 1983. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency from 1981 to 1982, 1982 to 1987 and 1994 to 1998.

Early life Coveney was born into one of Cork's prosperous "merchant prince" families in 1935. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork, Clongowes Wood College and the College of Estate Management, London. He worked as a chartered quantity surveyor in his father's surveying firm, Patrick F. Coveney Associates (later P. F. Coveney & Son). He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork South-Central constituency at the 1981 general election. He lost his seat in the first general election of 1982 but regained it in the second election in the same year. He lost his seat again at the 1987 general election and did not contest the 1989 or 1992 general elections. He was elected to the Dáil again in the 1994 Cork South-Central by-election caused by the resignation of the Progressive Democrats TD Pat Cox. His son, Simon Coveney, insisted that his father had never held an Ansbacher account. It later emerged that Hugh Coveney had $175,000 on deposit in the secret Cayman Island-based bank. The account was closed in 1979.

His son, Simon, was elected a TD to succeed his father in the resulting by-election on 3 November 1998.