Political groups

1999-2009: Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

National parties

1999-2009: Fine Gael Party

Biography

Avril Doyle was born in Dublin, Ireland. She received a BSc in Biochemistry from University College Dublin. In 1974, aged 25, she was elected to Wexford County Council and to Wexford Corporation, and she was Mayor of Wexford town from 1975 to 1976.

She was first elected a Teachta Dála (English: MP) for the Wexford constituency as a member of Fine Gael in 1982. Avril Doyle served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, and at the Department of the Environment with special responsibility for Environmental Protection from 1986 to 1987, and as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach from 1995 to 1997. She was a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 1989 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2002.

Avril Doyle was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, and re-elected in 2004. She would spend 10 years as an MEP in the European People's Party's group as Leader of the Irish Delegation. She was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (1999-2009), and a member of the Delegation for relations with South Africa (1999-2004). From 2007 to 2009, she was Vice-Chair of the Committee on Fisheries, and she was Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States, including Yemen throughout the 6th parliamentary term (2004-2009). She served as a substitute member on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (1999-2004), and on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (2004-2009). From 2007 to 2009, she was also a member of the Temporary committee on climate change. 

Avril Doyle speaks at a press conference on the climate change package in Strasbourg. Pictured (L-R): Richard Burret, Avril Doyle, Satu Hassi, Chris Davies © European Union 2008 – European Parliament

Avril Doyle was a member of the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), an honorary associate member of the British Veterinary Association and a former President of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland. She was a Special Advisor for Energy, Environment, Healthcare and Agriculture at FIPRA International.

For more information on her time as an MEP, click here.

Selected plenary speeches

On 11 March 2008, in the plenary debate on the proposal for a regulation on energy statistics, Avril Doyle referred to the complexity of the energy situation and the urgent need for accurate, timely, complete and unbiased statistical data:

On 21 May 2008, Avril Doyle, a member of the Temporary committee on climate change, addressed the plenary session on the committee's interim report on the scientific facts of climate change: findings and recommendations for decision-making:

What's in the archives?

Most of the documents relate to parliamentary work on the topic of climate change, as Avril Doyle was a member of the Environment Committee and of the Temporary committee on climate change during the 6th parliamentary term (2004-2009). In this context, particular mention should be made of the documents relating to the meetings, thematic events and the 2008 visit to Washington of the Temporary committee. Similarly, the MEP's activities as rapporteur of the review of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme (A6-0406/2008), including meetings, stakeholder consultations, positions of the sectors concerned and expert views, feature prominently in the archives of Avril Doyle.