Michael D'Arcy

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Minister of State

| suboffice = Fisheries and Forestry

| subterm = 1982–1986

| suboffice1 = Agriculture

| subterm1 = 1981–1982

| office2 = Teachta Dála

| term_start2 = June 1997

| term_end2 = May 2002

| term_start3 = June 1989

| term_end3 = November 1992

| term_start4 = June 1977

| term_end4 = February 1987

| constituency4 = Wexford

| office5 = Senator

| term_start5 = 17 February 1993

| term_end5 = 6 June 1997

| constituency5 = Agricultural Panel

| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|3|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = County Wexford, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|5|1|1934|3|7|df=y}}

| death_place = County Wexford, Ireland

| party = Fine Gael

| nationality = Irish

| spouse = Marie D'Arcy

| children = 4, including Michael

| education =

| alma_mater =

}}

Michael D'Arcy (7 March 1934 – 1 May 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, who served as a TD for the Wexford constituency.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Michael-D'Arcy.D.1977-07-05/|title=Michael D'Arcy|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=24 December 2012|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819132444/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Michael-D'Arcy.D.1977-07-05/|url-status=live}}

D'Arcy's political career began in 1958, when his father Timothy died and Michael was co-opted into his county council seat, which he served in for fifteen years.{{Cite web |title='Scrapper' D'Arcy is confident of victory |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/goreyguardian/scrapper-darcy-is-confident-of-victory-38900813.html |access-date=15 November 2022 |work= Irish Independent |language=en|date=1 February 2020}} He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1977 general election, and held his seat until the 1987 general election when he lost it to Brendan Howlin of the Labour Party.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3077|title=Michael D'Arcy|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=24 December 2012|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223111720/https://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=3077|url-status=live}} He was re-elected at the 1989 general election, at the expense of party colleague Avril Doyle, but she regained her seat at the 1992 general election. D'Arcy was then elected to the 20th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel.

At the 1997 general election he was returned to the 28th Dáil, again unseating Avril Doyle. He lost his seat again at the 2002 general election, this time to the independent candidate Liam Twomey, who later joined Fine Gael.

In 1981, in Garret FitzGerald's first government, D'Arcy was appointed a Minister of State for Agriculture. In FitzGerald's second government in 1982, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Fisheries and Forestry and at the Department of the Gaeltacht.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1982-12-16/8/|title=Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 16 December 1982|access-date=23 November 2019|website=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105155516/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1982-12-16/8/|url-status=live}} He was dismissed in February 1986.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1986-02-18/21/|title=Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Tuesday, 18 February 1986|access-date=23 November 2019|website=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105143639/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1986-02-18/21/|url-status=live}}

In 1999, D'Arcy was elected to Gorey Town Council; and was re-elected at the 2004 local elections, and retired in 2009.

D'Arcy was married to Marie, and they had four children. A son Michael W. D'Arcy is a former TD and senator.{{Cite news |title=D'Arcy marks 50 years in politics |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/d-arcy-marks-50-years-in-politics-1.914025 |access-date=15 August 2023|newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}

D'Arcy died on 1 May 2024, at the age of 90.{{Cite web |title=Tributes pour in for well-known former Wexford politician Michael D'Arcy |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/news/wexford-deaths/tributes-pour-in-for-well-known-former-wexford-politician-michael-darcy/a1494658295.html |access-date=2 May 2024 |website=Irish Independent |date=2 May 2024 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The death has occurred of Michael D'Arcy |url=https://rip.ie/death-notice/michael-darcy-wexford-gorey-555054 |access-date=2 May 2024 |website=RIP.ie|language=en}}