Willie Penrose (born 1 August 1956) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party from 2016 to 2020 and a Minister of State from March 2011 to November 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020. Education and professional career Penrose was born in Ballynacargy, County Westmeath, in 1956. He was educated at Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, Multyfarnham Agricultural College, University College Dublin (UCD), and the King's Inns. At UCD, he studied Agricultural Science, graduating in 1979 with a bachelor's degree; after graduation, with a colleague, he formed an agricultural consultancy firm in Mullingar. In 1986 he took up the position of advisor to the Minister of State at the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Tourism, Michael Moynihan, resigning from the agricultural consultancy to do so. He qualified as a barrister in 1990, before entering into national politics. He has published a book on agricultural law. Political career Westmeath County Council In 1984, Penrose was co-opted on to Westmeath County Council, and a year later, he ran in the local elections, winning his seat in the Mullingar Lough Owel local electoral area by a margin of just six votes. In the 1991 local elections, he topped the poll in the Mullingar Rural Area. Dáil Éireann: 1992–2020 At the 1992 general election, in which the Labour Party won a record 33 seats (later surpassed in 2011), he was first elected to the Dáil as a Labour Party TD for the Westmeath constituency. In 2002, Penrose was a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. Although he was part of a joint ticket with Pat Rabbitte, who won the leadership comfortably, he was narrowly defeated for the deputy leadership by Liz McManus, polling 1,636 votes to McManus's 1,728. Minister of State: 2011 On 9 March 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for Housing and Planning, attending meetings of the cabinet. On 15 November 2011, he resigned as Minister of State due to his opposition to the government's decision to close Columb Barracks in Mullingar. Penrose said: "I understand and appreciate that significant efforts were made by my Labour colleagues in government, who fully understood the depths of my feelings in this regard, to resolve this matter, but to no avail." He also resigned the Labour