Editing Austin Currie (section)

===Republic of Ireland=== 
Following his decision to quit Northern Ireland politics, and relocate his family to [[County Kildare]], Currie became actively involved in politics in the Republic. Partly due to his long-standing doubts about the commitment of politicians in the Republic to the plight of northern nationalists, he joined the [[Fine Gael]] party in 1989.<ref name="Ferriter">{{Cite news|last=Ferriter|first=Diarmaid|title=Diarmaid Ferriter: Currie always doubted South's commitment to the North|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/diarmaid-ferriter-currie-always-doubted-south-s-commitment-to-the-north-1.4726115|access-date=2021-11-12|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]] at the [[1989 Irish general election]].

====1990 Irish presidential election====
{{Main| 1990 Irish presidential election}}
In 1990 Fine Gael selected Currie as their candidate for the [[1990 Irish presidential election]], running against [[Tánaiste]] and [[Fianna Fáil]] TD, [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan Sr]], and Senator [[Mary Robinson]] for the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]]. The 1990 election was the first contested election for the Irish Presidency in [[1973 Irish presidential election|17 years]]. Currie received 267,902 first preference votes (approximately 17%) and was eliminated on the first count. The distribution of his votes saw Mary Robinson elected as Ireland's first female president on the second count, beating Lenihan by more than 86,000 votes.

In his 2004 autobiography ''All Hell will Break Loose'', he wrote about his experience of running in the presidential election, and the prejudice he faced as a nationalist from Ulster in southern politics: "What annoyed, indeed angered me most was the suggestion that because I came from the North, I was not a real Irishman ... what I called the partitionist mentality ... [during the election campaign] the [then Fianna Fáil] Minister for Justice [<nowiki/>[[Ray Burke (Irish politician)|Ray Burke]]] said Fine Gael leader [[Alan Dukes]] 'had to go to Tyrone to find a candidate for the presidency' ... it was hard to take, particularly from so-called republicans".<ref name="Ferriter"/>

====As a TD====
Following his defeat in the presidential election, Austin Currie held his Dáil seat in Dublin West at the [[1992 Irish general election|1992]] and [[1997 Irish general election|1997 general elections]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Austin Currie |url=https://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3804 |website=ElectionsIreland.org |access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Austin-Currie.D.1989-06-29/|title=Austin Currie|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref> Following the formation of the so-called [[24th Government of Ireland|Rainbow Coalition]] between Fine Gael, Labour and [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]], on 20 December 1994 newly appointed [[Taoiseach]] [[John Bruton]] appointed Currie as a [[Minister of State (Ireland)|Minister of State]] with responsibility for Children's Rights<ref>{{Cite news|last=O'connor|first=Alison|title=Currie pledges to fight paedophilia|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/currie-pledges-to-fight-paedophilia-1.78891|access-date=2021-11-12|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> at the Departments of [[Minister of State at the Department of Health|Health]], [[Minister of State at the Department of Education|Education]] and [[Minister of State at the Department of Justice|Justice]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1995-01-24/18/|title=Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil)|date=25 January 1995|access-date=13 January 2020|website=Houses of the Oireachtas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Irish legislation|type=si|year=1995|number=13|name=Justice (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 1995|date=20 January 1995|access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Irish legislation|type=si|year=1995|number=130|name=Health (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 1995|date=18 January 1995|access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref> becoming the first ever minister in an Irish Government with dedicated responsibility for children. He held this post until the appointment of a new Irish Government on 26 June 1997 following the [[1997 Irish general election]].

At the [[2002 Irish general election|2002 general election]] Currie contested the new constituency of [[Dublin Mid-West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Mid-West]], and failed to be elected. He immediately announced his retirement from electoral politics. He continued to speak and campaign for civil rights across the island of Ireland and for causes he believed in, such as justice for the families of the [[Disappeared (Northern Ireland)|Disappeared]] during the Troubles. Currie and his wife and family were personal friends of the family of one of the Disappeared, [[Columba McVeigh]], from [[Donaghmore, County Tyrone]]. His daughter [[Emer Currie]] was elected in his former constituency of [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]] at the [[2024 Irish general election]].