The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. Its ministers are collectively responsible for the Departments of State administered by the members of the Government. [1]
As of 2021 [update] , twenty-two women have served as cabinet ministers in governments of the Republic of Ireland and its predecessors the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and the Irish Republic (1919–1922). [2] After a 58-year gap between the first and second women ministers, [3] there has been at least one woman in all cabinets since December 1982. No woman has ever been Taoiseach (prime minister), but four women have served as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister). [4]
Other women have served outside the cabinet as junior ministers, known until 1978 as Parliamentary Secretaries, and since then as Ministers of State. [a] For example, five of the twenty Ministers of State appointed by the government of Micheál Martin in June 2020 were women, with two regularly attending cabinet.
The 32nd Government of Ireland was formed in June 2020 by Taoiseach Micheál Martin. As of 2022 [update] it includes four women as ministers in the cabinet: Norma Foley, Heather Humphreys, Catherine Martin and Helen McEntee. [8] No more than four women have served in cabinet at any one time. Criticism of the imbalance is defended by pointing to male dominance of the Oireachtas (parliament) from which ministers are appointed. [9]
The 1937 Constitution of Ireland requires the government to consist of between seven and fifteen members, [10] including the Taoiseach (prime minister). The Taoiseach is elected by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas), [11] and chooses the other ministers [11] including the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister). [12]
Since the formation of the 12th Government of Ireland in 1966, [13] all Irish cabinets have been formed with the constitutional maximum of fifteen ministers. The total sometimes falls below this number for brief periods following the resignation of individual ministers or the withdrawal of a party from a coalition. For example, six ministers resigned in January 2011 from the 28th Government of Ireland, and were not replaced until March, when the 29th Government was formed after the general election in February. [14] [15] [16]
Only three ministerial offices are specifically identified in the constitution: Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. [17] No woman has ever been appointed as Taoiseach [18] or Minister for Finance. [19] However, four women have served as Tánaiste. [4] The first woman Tánaiste was Mary Harney (1997–2006), who in 1993 had become the first woman to lead a political party in the Dáil. [20] Harney was followed by Mary Coughlan (2008–2011), [4] Joan Burton (2014–2016), [4] and Frances Fitzgerald (2016–2017). [4]
Each minister must be a member of the Oireachtas (the national parliament), [17] whose eligibility criteria for membership are defined as being "without distinction of sex". [21] Up to two members of the Government may be members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas, [22] but the only three senators ever appointed as ministers were men. [23] All women in Irish cabinets have been Teachtaí Dála (TDs), i.e. members of Dáil Éireann.
The first woman cabinet minister in Ireland was Constance Markievicz, [24] who in April 1919 became Minister for Labour in the Second Ministry of the revolutionary First Dáil. [25] She was only [26] [27] the second woman minister in the national government of any country, after Alexandra Kollontai's appointment in 1917 as People's Commissar in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. [28]
When the Second Dáil assembled in August 1921, Markievicz continued as Minister for Labour, [29] but her post was no longer at cabinet level in the Government of the Second Dáil. [24] Markievicz and other ministers opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty resigned from the Government on 9 January 1922. [24] [29]
Only two women were returned to the Third Dáil in the general election in June 1922, [30] down from six at the 1921 election, [31] when 4.7% of TDs were women. The 1920s and 1930s were a conservative period in Ireland, in which women's rights were reversed, [32] and no women were members of the Executive Council of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. From the 1930s to the 1960s most women TDs were widows or other relatives of deceased TDs, [33] and the 4.7% ratio achieved in 1921 was not equalled again until the 1981 general election returned 11 women, who comprised 6.6% of the 22nd Dáil. [34]
More than 58 years elapsed between Markievicz leaving office and the appointment in December 1979 of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn as the second woman in cabinet. [3] In 1977, Geoghegan-Quinn had become the first woman since Markievicz to serve as a junior minister in the Irish government, [35] when Jack Lynch appointed her as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce. [36] Two years later, aged 29, she was "flabbergasted" [27] to become Minister for the Gaeltacht in the first cabinet of Taoiseach Charles Haughey. [36]
Since then, the only all-male Irish government was the March–December 1982 second government of Charles Haughey. [37] All cabinets since December 1982 have included at least one woman. The first time two women served as ministers simultaneously was in January 1993, when Taoiseach Albert Reynolds included both Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Niamh Bhreathnach in his cabinet. [38] Bhreathnach was the first woman to be appointed as minister at the start of her first Dáil term, [39] and the only one until Katherine Zappone became Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in May 2016. [4]
Political scientists Yvonne Galligan and Fiona Buckley note that women have been grossly under-represented in Irish politics, [4] with men making up 91% of all cabinet appointments between 1919 and June 2017. [4] They also found that women in the Irish cabinet are twice as likely to hold a social portfolio (48%) than an economic portfolio (24%). [4] By contrast, only 17% of men held social portfolios, and 52% held an economic or foreign affairs portfolio. [4]
All but two of the women who have served as ministers since 1919 are still alive. The first Irish woman minister, Constance Markievicz, died in 1927, [40] and the third, Eileen Desmond, died in 2005. [41] Ireland's oldest living woman former minister is 87-year-old [42] Mary O'Rourke.
The highest number of women ever in an Irish cabinet is four, a number first reached in 2004–2007, and again in each cabinet from 2014 to the present. However, this amounts to only 27% of the 15 ministers, and has been criticised by the National Women's Council of Ireland as "way off a gender-balanced Cabinet". [43]
In 2014, then Taoiseach Enda Kenny pledged that if re-elected he would appoint a cabinet "50:50 on merit, of men and women". [44] When Kenny formed the 30th Government in May 2016 with four women ministers out of fifteen, he was criticised by women campaigners for the lack of increase. [45] Minister Regina Doherty defended Kenny, saying he had "probably done the best that he can do". [43] TheJournal.ie noted that the "proportion of senior ministers who are women is 27%, higher than the 22% of TDs". [45] In June 2017, Kenny's successor Leo Varadkar also appointed four women to his cabinet. He too was criticised for not including more women, [43] but replied that "your ministerial team generally reflects the composition of the Dáil". [9] Varadkar promised "to make sure we have many more women in our next parliamentary party so that I can promote many more women". [9]
In February 2018, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan launched a programme of commemoration of the centenary of women's enfranchisement. The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave limited voting rights for women. The right to stand for election was granted later in 1918, by the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act. [46] [47] Madigan said the Irish State "failed women for far too long," [48] and that it was time to "redouble our efforts" to provide equal opportunities. [46] Former Tánaiste Joan Burton called for the next government to consist of an equal number of men and women. [46]
Numerical order represents the order of first appointment to the cabinet.
Age represents age on appointment to that office.
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann and the office-holder must retain the support of a majority in the Dáil to remain in office.
The Tánaiste is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. They are the equivalent of a deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science from 2010 to 2014, Member of the European Court of Auditors from 2000 to 2010, Minister for Equality and Law Reform from November 1994 to December 1994, Minister for Justice from 1993 to 1994, Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications from 1992 to 1993, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach from 1987 to 1989, Minister of State for Youth and Sport from March 1982 to December 1982, Minister for the Gaeltacht from 1979 to 1981, Minister of State at the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy from 1978 to 1979 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1978. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency from 1975 to 1997.
There were two governments of the 26th Dáil elected at the 1989 general election on 15 June 1989, both being coalition governments of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. The 21st government of Ireland was led by Charles Haughey as Taoiseach and lasted 945 days. The 22nd government of Ireland was led by Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach and lasted 308 days from its appointment until resignation, and continued to carry out its duties for a further 29 days until the appointment of its successor, giving a total of 337 days.
The government of the 1st Dáil was the executive of the unilaterally declared Irish Republic. At the 1918 Westminster election, candidates for Sinn Féin stood on an abstentionist platform, declaring that they would not remain in the Parliament of the United Kingdom but instead form a unicameral, revolutionary parliament for Ireland called Dáil Éireann.
A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-cabinet rank attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister of the Government responsible for that Department.
The Government of Ireland is the executive authority of the Republic of Ireland, headed by the Taoiseach, the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the Oireachtas, which consists of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. Most ministers have a portfolio of specific responsibilities such as departments or policy areas, although ministers without portfolio can be appointed.
The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach.
Joan Burton is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2014, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare from 1993 to 1994. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2020.
This is a list of records relating to the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland, which consists of the President of Ireland, and two Houses, Dáil Éireann, a house of representatives whose members are known as Teachtaí Dála or TDs, and Seanad Éireann, a senate whose members are known as senators.
Frances Fitzgerald is an Irish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 to July 2024. She is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party. She previously served as Tánaiste from 2016 to 2017, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation from June 2017 to November 2017, Minister for Justice and Equality from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from 2011 to 2014 and Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad from 2007 to 2011. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2002 and 2011 to 2019. She was also a Senator for the Labour Panel from 2007 to 2011.
Eithne FitzGerald is an Irish economist and former Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1992 to 1997. She was a Minister of State in both the 23rd Government of Ireland and the 24th Government of Ireland during her single term as a TD.
Simon Harris is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he served as a minister of state from 2014 to 2016 and as a minister since 2016.
The 29th government of Ireland was the government of Ireland which was formed following the 2011 general election to the 31st Dáil on 25 February 2011. It was a coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party led by Enda Kenny as Taoiseach. From 2011 to 2014, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore served as Tánaiste, and from 2014 to 2016, the new Labour leader Joan Burton served as Tánaiste.
The 23rd government of Ireland was the government formed following the 1992 general election to the 27th Dáil held on 25 November 1992. It was a coalition of Fianna Fáil, with leader Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach, and the Labour Party, with leader Dick Spring as Tánaiste. It was the first time that these two parties were in government together; on each previous occasion Labour was in government, it was a junior coalition party with Fine Gael. The government lasted for 675 days from its appointment until its resignation on 17 November 1994, and continued to carry out its duties for a further 28 days until the appointment of its successor, giving a total of 703 days.
There were two governments of the 32nd Dáil, which was elected at the general election held on 26 February 2016. The 30th government of Ireland was led by Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and the 31st government of Ireland was led by Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach. They were minority governments with Fine Gael and Independent TDs at cabinet, reliant on the support of other Independent TDs, and a confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil. It was the first time Fine Gael had returned to government after a general election, and the succession of Varadkar as Taoiseach in 2017 was the first time a Fine Gael leader had succeeded a party colleague as Taoiseach within a Dáil term.
There have been three governments of the 33rd Dáil to date, being coalition governments of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. This followed the 2020 general election to Dáil Éireann held on 8 February, and negotiations on a programme for government that lasted till June. The parties agreed on a rotation, with the two major party leaders alternating as Taoiseach. The makeup of the parties resulted in a centre-right coalition. It was the first time that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have participated in the same government, which Leo Varadkar described as the end of what has often been referred to as Civil War politics.
The 47-year-old mother-of-two is only the 19th woman to be appointed as a senior minister in the history of the State