[3] Fitzpatrick first held political office in 1950, when he was elected to Cavan Urban District Council.
[4] He held many Opposition Front Bench portfolios including Defence, Health and Social Welfare, Justice and the Environment, as well as being Fine Gael Chief Whip from 1979 to 1981.
Fitzpatrick served in the Irish Government on several occasions under Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald.
After Fine Gael lost power in 1977, he was mentioned as a possible leader of the party if a compromise were needed between FitzGerald and Cosgrave.
[6] Fitzpatrick was re-elected to the Dáil (or automatically returned as Ceann Comhairle) at every election until 1989 when he retired from politics.