  bernard allen (born 9 september 1944) is a former irish fine gael politician. he served as a teachta dÃ¡la (td) for the cork northâcentral constituency from 1981 to 2011.  allen was born in cork city. he was educated at the north monastery christian brothers school and university college cork where he qualified with a diploma in chemical technology. allen first became involved in politics in 1979 when he was elected to cork corporation, and was a member until 1995. he was first elected to dÃ¡il Ãireann at the 1981 general election as a fine gael td for the cork northâcentral constituency and retained his seat at each subsequent general election until his retirement in 2011. at the 1987 general election fine gael lost power and allen was appointed opposition spokesperson for health. the following year he became lord mayor of cork. in 1993 allen became spokesperson for social welfare. in 1994 fine gael returned to government and taoiseach john bruton appointed allen as minister of state at the department of education and the environment with special responsibility for youth and sport. in february 2002 michael noonan became leader of fine gael and allen became spokesperson for tourism, sport and recreation. following the 2002 general election allen was one of the few high-profile fine gael tds who were re-elected. following this he was appointed opposition spokesperson for the [[minister for the environment, community and local government|en
1944_births Alumni_of_University_College_Cork Fine_Gael_politicians Living_people Lord_Mayors_of_Cork Members_of_the_22nd_DA!il Members_of_the_23rd_DA!il Members_of_the_24th_DA!il Members_of_the_25th_DA!il Members_of_the_26th_DA!il Members_of_the_27th_DA!il Members_of_the_28th_DA!il Members_of_the_29th_DA!il Members_of_the_30th_DA!il Ministers_of_State_of_the_27th_DA!il People_from_Cork_(city) Politicians_from_County_Cork TeachtaA_DA!la