[2] As a young man he showed particular skill at Gaelic games, winning four Dublin County Senior Hurling Championships with the St Vincents GAA club, having earlier captained the school team of St Joseph's, Fairview which brought the All-Ireland Colleges football title to Dublin for the first time.
Foley captained the Dublin minor football team which won the All-Ireland Final in 1958.
In 1962 he became the only player in history to play in two provincial Railway Cup finals, in hurling and football, on the same day, winning medals in both codes for Leinster.
In 1963 he captained the Dublin county football team which defeated Galway to win the All-Ireland title.
[3] He resigned from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on 4 November 1971, in advance of a confidence motion in Jim Gibbons, whose role in the Arms Crisis he disagreed with.