Joan Burton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joan Burton
Tánaiste
In office 4 July 2014 – 6 May 2016
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	Eamon Gilmore
Succeeded by	Frances Fitzgerald
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 4 July 2014 – 20 May 2016
Deputy	Alan Kelly
Preceded by	Eamon Gilmore
Succeeded by	Brendan Howlin
Minister for Social Protection
In office 9 March 2011 – 6 May 2016
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	Éamon Ó Cuív
Succeeded by	Leo Varadkar
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office 4 October 2007 – 4 July 2014
Leader	Eamon Gilmore
Preceded by	Liz McManus
Succeeded by	Alan Kelly
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs
In office 20 December 1994 – 26 June 1997
Taoiseach	John Bruton
Preceded by	Tom Kitt
Succeeded by	Liz O'Donnell
Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare
In office 14 January 1993 – 15 December 1994
Taoiseach	Albert Reynolds
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Teachta Dála
In office May 2002 – February 2020
In office November 1992 – June 1997
Constituency	Dublin West
Personal details
Born	(1949-02-01) 1 February 1949 (age 74) Stoneybatter, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Patrick Carroll (m. 1978)
Children	1
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2014, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare from 1993 to 1994. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2020.

Burton was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election. From 1995 to 1997, she was Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She lost her seat at the 1997 general election, but was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2002 general election. She was deputy leader of the Labour Party under Eamon Gilmore, between 2007 and 2014. She was Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) from 2014 to 2016 and Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016. She resigned as Labour Party leader in May 2016, following heavy losses by the party in the 2016 general election. Burton lost her seat in the 2020 general election on the 5th count.

Early life

Burton is a native of the Stoneybatter area of Dublin. She was adopted by the Burton family as a baby and was brought up in Inchicore. Her adoptive father worked in the local iron foundry. She was educated at St. Gabriel's NS, Cowper Street and St. Joseph Sisters of Charity Secondary School, Stanhope Street and University College Dublin (UCD), where she graduated with a degree in commerce. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has worked as a lecturer in Accountancy in the Dublin Institute of Technology and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.