Éamon Ó Cuív

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Éamon Ó Cuív 
TD
Éamon Ó Cuív
Incumbent
Assumed office 
6 June 2002
Preceded by Síle de Valera
Constituency Galway West
Born 23 June 1950 (1950-06-23) (age 57)
Dublin
Nationality Irish
Political party Fianna Fáil

Éamon Ó Cuív (born 23 June 1950) is a senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician and is currently the Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Galway West since 1992 and has previously been a member of Seanad Éireann.

Ó Cuív comes from a famed political dynasty. He is the grandson of Fianna Fáil founder, first Taoiseach and third President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera. He is a nephew of the former TD, Vivion de Valera and is a first cousin of the former Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht & the Islands minister, Síle de Valera. He is the son of the noted professor and scholar of the Irish language, Brian Ó Cuív (1916–1999).

He was born in Dublin and was educated at Oatlands College, Dublin and University College Dublin. Before entering politics, he was the manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development.

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[edit] Electoral history

Ó Cuív first stood for election at the 1987 general election, in the Galway West constituency, where he was the last-placed of the four Fianna Fáil candidates, only two of whom were elected. He did better in the 1989 election, substantially increasing his share of the first-preference votes, but was the only one of the three Fianna Fáil candidates not to be elected.

He was then elected to the 19th Seanad on the Cultural and Educational Panel. He served there until the 1992 general election when he was elected as a Fianna Fáil TD for Galway West. His vote had increased significantly, and he was elected on the first count, coming a close second behind the Labour Party's Michael D. Higgins. At the 1997 general election, he was again elected in second place on the first count, this time being narrowly behind his Fianna Fáil colleague, Senator Frank Fahey. At the 2002 general election he comfortably topped the poll, with over 20% of the first-preference votes. Ó Cuív again topped the poll for Galway West at the 2007 general election.

In 1994, Ó Cuív raised a few eyebrows in Fianna Fáil circles when he argued for a conditional return to the British Commonwealth as a gesture to Unionists in Northern Ireland.[1]

[edit] Political career

Ó Cuív did not reach ministerial office in his first term in Dáil Éireann, but in 1997 (at the start of the 28th Dáil) he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht & the Islands, serving under his cousin Síle de Valera who was the senior minister at the Department. Following the 2002 general election he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

He is widely credited with responsibility for the Official Languages Act, which gave rise to the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga.

Recently Mr. Ó Cuív has been at the centre of a controversy surrounding the official name of An Daingean / Dingle, a small Gaeltacht tourist town in West Kerry principally inhabited by non-Irish speakers. The residents of the town, against the wishes of other Gaeltacht residents, held a plebiscite in November 2006 to determine which version of the town name should be used. Ó Cuív originally signalled that he was happy to abide by the locals' decision, but has recently said that the name can not legally be changed back to Dingle, following advice from the Office of the Attorney General.

In 2007, Ó Cuiv has again called for Ireland to return to the Commonwealth as a full member state in light of the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland and the meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Belfast. [5]

[edit] Surname

Ó Cuív's surname was changed from Ó Caoimh by his grandfather, Shán Ó Cuív, a Cork journalist, who in the early 20th century, changed the spelling of his surname in order to conform with a simplified spelling system of his own invention which he called An Leitriú Shimplí.[2] The letter 'v' is extremely rare in Irish outside modern loanwords, it is not one of the 23 letters of the 'Irish alphabet'.[3][4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ O Cuiv - the spelling of my name. Available: [2] Accessed: 15th November 2007.
  3. ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 602 - 19 May, 2005 - Priority Questions - Irish Language. Available: [3] Accessed: 16th November 2007.
  4. ^ The spelling of Irish. Available: [4] Accessed: 16th November 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Oireachtas
Preceded by
Frank Fahey
(Fianna Fáil)		 Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Galway West
1992 – present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Donal Carey		 Minister of State with special responsibility for the Gaeltacht and the Islands
1997–2001		 Succeeded by
Mary Coughlan
Preceded by
Noel Davern		 Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture & Food (with special responsibility for Rural Development)
2001–2002		 Succeeded by
Office Abolished
Preceded by
Síle de Valera		 Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
2002 – present		 Incumbent
Languages