Spring, Dick (1950- )

Irish Labour Party leader 1982-97 and foreign minister 1993-97. He entered into a coalition with Garret FitzGerald's Fine Gael in 1982 as deputy prime minister (with the posts of minister for the environment 1982-83 and minister for energy 1983-87). In 1993 he became deputy prime minister to Albert Reynolds in a Fianna Fáil-Labour Party coalition, with the post of minister for foreign affairs. He withdrew from the coalition in November 1994 in protest over a judicial appointment made by Reynolds, and the following month formed a new coalition with Fine Gael, serving as deputy prime minister and foreign minister under Prime Minister John Bruton, until 1997. He lost his seat in the Irish Parliament at the 2002 general election.

Born in Tralee, Country Kerry, the son of a politician, he played rugby union for Ireland and qualified as a barrister. He became a member of the Irish parliament, the Dáil Éireann, in 1981, representing Kerry North, a seat formerly held by his father. He became Labour Party leader in 1982, taking over a divided party and launched a campaign to expel left-wing extremists.