Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Government of Ireland

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Irish: Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha) is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.

The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Micheál Martin, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State:

The Minister is one of the most important members of the Irish cabinet, with responsibility for the relations between the Republic of Ireland and foreign states. From 1922 until 1971 the title of the office was "Minister for External Affairs".

Contents

[edit] Overview

Iveagh House, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland
Iveagh House, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland

Within the department there are a number of divisions:

  • Finance Unit – oversees the financial control of the department.
  • Anglo-Irish Division – deals with Anglo-Irish relations and Northern Ireland.
  • Cultural Division – administers the state's Cultural Relations Programme.
  • European Union Division – coordinates the state's approach within the European Union (EU).
  • Passport and Consular Division – is responsible for the issuing of passports to Irish citizens.
  • Political Division – is responsible for international political issues and manages the state's participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.
  • Protocol Division – is responsible for the organisation and management of visits of VIPs to the state and of visits abroad by the President of Ireland.

[edit] List of office-holders

[edit] Minister for Foreign Affairs 1919–1922
# Name Entered Office Left Office Party
1. Count Plunkett 22 January 1919 26 August 1921 Sinn Féin
2. Arthur Griffith[1] (1st time) 26 August 1921 9 January 1922 Sinn Féin
3. George Gavan Duffy 10 January 1922 25 July 1922 Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
Arthur Griffith (2nd time) 26 July 1922 12 August 1922 Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
4. Michael Hayes 21 August 1922 9 September 1922 Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin

[edit] Minister for External Affairs 1922–1971
# Name Entered Office Left Office Party
5. Desmond FitzGerald 30 August 1922 23 June 1927 Cumann na nGaedhael
6. Kevin O'Higgins 23 June 1927 10 July 1927 Cumann na nGaedhael
7. W. T. Cosgrave (acting) 10 July 1927 11 October 1927 Cumann na nGaedhael
8. Patrick McGilligan 11 October 1927 9 March 1932 Cumann na nGaedhael
9. Éamon de Valera[2] 9 March 1932 18 February 1948 Fianna Fáil
10. Seán MacBride 18 February 1948 13 June 1951 Clann na Poblachta
11. Frank Aiken (1st time) 13 June 1951 2 June 1954 Fianna Fáil
12. Liam Cosgrave 2 June 1954 20 March 1957 Fine Gael
Frank Aiken (2nd time) 20 March 1957 2 July 1969 Fianna Fáil
13. Patrick Hillery 2 July 1969 3 March 1971 Fianna Fáil

[edit] Minister for Foreign Affairs 1971–present
# Name Entered Office Left Office Party
Patrick Hillery 3 March 1971 3 January 1973 Fianna Fáil
14. Brian Lenihan (1st time) 3 January 1973 14 March 1973 Fianna Fáil
15. Garret FitzGerald 14 March 1973 5 July 1977 Fine Gael
16. Michael O'Kennedy 5 July 1977 11 December 1979 Fianna Fáil
Brian Lenihan (2nd time) 12 December 1979 30 June 1981 Fianna Fáil
17. John Kelly[3] 30 June 1981 21 October 1981 Fine Gael
18. James Dooge 21 October 1981 9 March 1982 Fine Gael
19. Gerard Collins (1st time) 9 March 1982 14 December 1982 Fianna Fáil
20. Peter Barry[4] 14 December 1982 10 March 1987 Fine Gael
Brian Lenihan (3rd time) 10 March 1987 12 July 1989 Fianna Fáil
Gerard Collins (2nd time) 12 July 1989 11 February 1992 Fianna Fáil
21. David Andrews (1st time) 11 February 1992 12 January 1993 Fianna Fáil
22. Dick Spring (1st time) 12 January 1993 17 November 1994 Labour Party
23. Albert Reynolds (acting) 18 November 1994 15 December 1994 Fianna Fáil
Dick Spring (2nd time) 15 December 1994 26 June 1997 Labour Party
24. Ray Burke 26 June 1997 7 October 1997 Fianna Fáil
David Andrews (2nd time) 8 October 1997 27 January 2000 Fianna Fáil
25. Brian Cowen 27 January 2000 29 September 2004 Fianna Fáil
26. Dermot Ahern 29 September 2004 7 May 2008 Fianna Fáil
27. Micheál Martin 7 May 2008 Incumbent Fianna Fáil

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ On the first occasion he held the foreign affairs portfolio, Arthur Griffith's official title was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
  2. ^ Éamon de Valera, who was head of government (President of the Executive Council until 1937, renamed Taoiseach in 1937) served as his own foreign minister.
  3. ^ When Garret FitzGerald formed a government in mid 1981 he announced that he would be appointing James Dooge to be a senator and once in office would make him minister. However as the appointment could not be made until Seanad Éireann's general election had taken place (which would be a few weeks), in the interim the Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism, John Kelly, would act as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  4. ^ When the Labour Party withdrew from cabinet in early 1987, a new interim cabinet, made up simply of the outgoing Fine Gael ministers, was formed. Peter Barry continued on as Foreign Minister in that short-lived Fine Gael cabinet.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Government of Ireland
Rialtas na hÉireann
Government of Ireland
Languages