Richard Burke was an Irish politician with the Fine Gael political party. Fine Gael is considered to be Christian, centre-right, and liberal-conservative; it is currently the governing party in Ireland and boasts a membership of thirty five thousand. Richard Edward Burke was born on March 19, 1932, in New York City, New York; he died in March of 2016 in Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland. Burke was raised in County Tipperary in Ireland and attended Christian Brothers School. He would later attend University College Dublin and The Honorable Society of King’s Inns. Burke was a teacher before becoming involved in politics. In 1967, Burke joined Fine Gael and became a member of the Dublin County Council. In 1969, he became a member of the lower house of the Oireachtas and was immediately given the position of Chief Whip by the party leader, Liam Cosgrave.

He received the appointment of Minister for Education in 1973. In 1976 he won the nomination for Ireland’s European Commissioner. Burke completed a fellowship at Harvard University in 1980. After retiring from politics, Burke became president and CEO of the Stichting Canon Foundation, where he served until his retirement in 1998. Richard Burke was married and had six children.