Jim Corr (politician)

James A. Corr (born 25 January 1934) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1979 to 1980 and 1996 to 1997. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central from February 1982 to November 1982.^[1][2][3][4]

Corr was a member of Cork City Council from 1973 to 2014.^[5] He was first co-opted to the council (then called Cork Corporation) in 1973,^[2] and elected at the 1974 local elections.^[2] He was Lord Mayor of Cork in 1979 and 1996.^[2][3]

When the five-seat Cork South-Central constituency was created in 1980, Fine Gael's support was sufficient for two seats. Peter Barry was the party's senior TD;^[6] Corr had a rivalry with Hugh Coveney for the second Fine Gael seat.^[6][7] Coveney narrowly beat Corr at the 1981 general election,^[6][8] but Corr won by a larger margin in February 1982.^[1][6][8] Becoming disillusioned with Dáil politics,^[9][10] Corr stood aside in November 1982,^[1][6][10] with Coveney regaining the seat.^[6] Corr was to stand as a third Fine Gael candidate at the 1987 general election, but stood aside to avoid splitting the Fine Gael vote,^[10] though Coveney lost his seat in any event. Corr was unsuccessful at the 1989 and 1992 general elections.^[8][5]

Corr was unhappy that John Cushnahan was selected ahead of him as Fine Gael candidate in Munster at the 1989 European Parliament election.^[11][12] Corr stood unsuccessfully in Munster at the 1999 European Parliament election.^[5]

Corr taught geography, and wrote a school textbook in 1972.^[13] He spent six years working in Africa.^[4] He was a trade union activist,^[6] and considered on the left wing of Fine Gael in the early 1980s.^[14] He was appointed to the Board of Bord Gáis in 1997.^[3] He has been chairman of the advisory board of European Cities Against Drugs since 2002.^[15]

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