Colonial Civil Service Byrne joined the service in 1938 and was assigned to the Colonial Administrative Service in 1946. Byrne was appointed as the magistrate of the Fourth Police Court to replace R. E. Turnbull in 1939. Byrne was called to the bar in London in 1950. In 1953, Byrne was transferred to the Marine Department which was later brought under the Department of Commerce and Industry. He was later appointed as Assistant Secretary of Marine Department, and Principal Assistant Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Industry Ministry. and left the government post in 1958 to join politics.
Political career During the
1959 general election, Byrne won the election and was elected as the Member of Parliament for
Crawford and was appointed as Minister for Labour and Minister for Law. Byrne introduced the Industrial Relations Act and the Employment Act in Singapore, which ensured that workers in Singapore were not exploited by foreign investment companies in Singapore. Byrne relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Labour but kept his portfolio as Minister for Law and was appointed as Minister for Health in 1961.
Post political career Following Byrne's loss in the
1963 general election, he entered civil service and was appointed as Chairman of the
Central Provident Fund and Chairman of the
Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. Byrne was appointed as Singapore's High Commissioner to
New Zealand in 1966. In July 1973, he was appointed High Commissioner to
India, concurrently serving as High Commissioner to
Bangladesh and
Sri Lanka, as well as Ambassador to Nepal. From October of that year, he concurrently served as Ambassador to
Iran. He went on to become a lawyer, setting up a private practice in Singapore until his death in 1990. ==Personal life==