John Browne was born in Marshalstown, County Wexford in 1948. He was educated locally at St Mary'sChristian Brothers School in Enniscorthy. Browne worked as a salesman before becoming involved in politics and was also an inter-county hurler for Wexford. Browne is married to Judy and they have three children, a fourth child now deceased. His uncle Seán Browne, was also a TD, who was first elected in 1957. He retired due to ill health. John Browne topped the poll in the constituency of Wexford on a number of occasions.
Political career
Browne first became involved in politics in 1979 when he was elected to Enniscorthy Urban District Council and to Wexford County Council. Browne was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the November 1982 general election for the constituency of Wexford and has been re-elected at every election since. Over his career Browne has held a number of government and opposition positions. Not long after his election he was appointed assistant Chief Whip. When Fianna Fáil returned to power in 1987 he remained on the backbenches however. The election of Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach in 1992 saw Browne become Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with special responsibility for the Food Industry. In 1993 he was moved to the post of Minister of State at the Department of the Environment with special responsibility for Environmental Protection, serving in that position until 1994. In 1997 Fianna Fáil were back in power, however, Browne remained on the backbenches. In 2002 he received a promotion to the post of Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. In Bertie Ahern's Cabinet reshuffle of 2004 Browne became Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, serving under Mary Coughlan, Ireland's first female Agriculture Minister. Following a junior ministerial reshuffle in February 2006 Browne returned to his previous department, where he served as Minister of State with responsibility for the Marine. Browne has also served as Chairman of a number of Oireachtas Committees, including, Agriculture, Marine, Social Affairs, and Finance. After the 2007 general election, he was appointed as Minister of State for Fisheries, the office was previously known as Minister of State with special responsibility for the Marine. On 13 May 2008, shortly after Brian Cowen became Taoiseach, Browne lost his position as Minister of State for Fisheries in a major re-shuffle by the new leader - he was not appointed to any other junior ministry. He is currently the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Marine and Fisheries. Browne was involved in controversy in November 2011 when it emerged that the Department of Public Expenditure incorrectly paid him a pension from his time as a junior minister at the Department of Agriculture worth €7,396.31 despite still being a sitting TD. The Department of public expenditure apologised to the TD for the embarrassment caused to him. He did not contest the 2016 general election, and his son James Browne was elected in his place.
