He was born in Killasser, Swinford, County Mayo, in 1945. Durkan was educated at St. John's, Carramore, County Mayo.
Durkan took part in a farmer's road blockade protest in 1967 and was imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison and Portlaoise Prison for eight weeks after refusing to pay a £7 10s. fine.[2]
During his career as a member of Dáil Éireann, he has held several Front Bench portfolios in Fine Gael, including Health, Food, Trade and Industry, Insurance, Overseas Development Aid and Human Rights, and Communications and Natural Resources. He served as Minister of State for Social Welfare from 1994 to 1997.
He currently serves as vice-chairman of the Joint Oireachtas on Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and as a member of the Joint Committee on European Affairs. He has also previously acted as the chairman on the Oireachtas Committee of European Affairs and a member of the Eastern Health Board. He has also served as Fine Gael Chief Whip. In 2010, Durkan refused to defer the drawing of his ministerial pension while still being paid as a TD. He instead decided to donate this pension to charity.[4]
In 2023, Durkan called for an inquiry into the usage of parental alienation in family law cases, which he described as a "pseudo-condition".[5]
References
^"Bernard Durkan". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2009.