Dr. Garret FitzGerald, former Foreign Minister and Taoiseach, was elected in 1965 to the Irish Senate and, four years later, to Dail Eireann (the Lower House of Parliament). From 1973 to 1977, he was Irish Foreign Minister and, in the latter year, became Leader of the Fine Gael Party in Opposition. Between June 1981 and March 1987 and again between December 1982 and March 1987, he was Taoiseach (Prime Minister). In the second half of 1984, he was President of the European Council. In 1983, he established the New Ireland Forum as a preliminary to the negotiation of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. He is currently Chancellor of the National University of Ireland which comprises four universities and six recognized colleges and presides over its Senate. He has been a weekly columnist in the Irish Times for most of the past 50 years. He is Chairman and of the Future of Europe Committee of the Institute of European Affairs.