List of female cabinet ministers of the Republic of Ireland

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Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, who in 1979 became the first woman in an Irish cabinet since 1921 Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, November 2009 (cropped).jpg
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who in 1979 became the first woman in an Irish cabinet since 1921

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]

Contents

As of 2021, 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. [lower-alpha 1] 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 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]

Constitution

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]

Mary Harney, the first woman Tanaiste, and first woman to serve as an independent cabinet minister. Mary Harney cropped.jpg
Mary Harney, the first woman Tánaiste, and first woman to serve as an independent cabinet minister.

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.

History

Constance Markievicz, the first woman cabinet minister in Ireland Countess Constance Markiewicz-1.1.2 (cropped).jpg
Constance Markievicz, the first woman cabinet minister in Ireland

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]

Niamh Bhreathnach, the first woman to be appointed as minister at the start of her first Dail term Niamh Bhreathnach.jpg
Niamh Bhreathnach, the first woman to be appointed as minister at the start of her first Dáil term

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 86-year-old [42] Mary O'Rourke.

Calls for gender balance

Katherine Zappone, the first woman to be appointed to an Irish cabinet as an independent politician Katherine Zappone.png
Katherine Zappone, the first woman to be appointed to an Irish cabinet as an independent politician

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]

List of women ministers

Numerical order represents the order of first appointment to the cabinet.
Age represents age on appointment to that office.

  Denotes incumbent minister
#NamePortraitOfficePartyAppointedLeft officeAgeTaoiseachGov't
1 Constance Markievicz [40]
(1868–1927)
Countess Constance Markiewicz-1.1.2 (cropped).jpg
Minister for Labour [25] Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 [25] 26 August 1921 [25] 51 Éamon de Valera [lower-alpha 2] 2nd DM
2 Máire Geoghegan-Quinn [52]
(born 1950)
20111203191857 Maire Geoghegan-Quinn International Year of Chemistry (cropped).jpg
Minister for the Gaeltacht [36] Fianna Fáil 11 December 1979 [36] 30 June 1981 [36] 29 Charles Haughey 16th
Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications [53] 11 February 1992 [53] 12 January 1993 [53] 42 Albert Reynolds 22nd
Minister for Justice [38] 4 January 1993 [38] 15 December 1994 [38] 42 23rd
Minister for Equality and Law Reform [38] 18 November 1994 [38] 15 December 1994 [38] 44
3 Eileen Desmond [41]
(1932–2005)		– Minister for Health [54] Labour 30 June 1981 [54] 9 March 1982 [54] 48 Garret FitzGerald 17th
Minister for Social Welfare [54]
4 Gemma Hussey [55]
(born 1938)		– Minister for Education [56] Fine Gael 14 December 1982 [56] 14 February 1986 [56] 44 Garret FitzGerald 18th
Minister for Social Welfare [56] 14 February 1986 [56] 10 March 1987 [56] 47
Minister for Labour [56] 20 January 1987 [56] 10 March 1987 [56] 48
5 Mary O'Rourke [42]
(born 1937)		– Minister for Education [57] [53] Fianna Fáil 10 March 1987 [57] [53] 11 November 1991 [57] [53] 49 Charles Haughey 20th
21st
Minister for Health [53] 11 November 1991 [53] 11 February 1992 [53] 54
Minister for Public Enterprise [58] 26 June 1997 [58] 6 June 2002 [58] 60 Bertie Ahern 25th
6 Niamh Bhreathnach [59]
(1945–2023)		 Niamh Bhreathnach.jpg Minister for Education [38] Labour 12 January 1993 [38] 17 November 1994 [38] 47 Albert Reynolds 22rd
15 December 1994 [38] 26 June 1997 [38] 49 John Bruton 24th
7 Nora Owen [60]
(born 1945)
Nora Owen, May 1996 (cropped).jpg
Minister for Justice [38] Fine Gael 15 December 1994 [38] 26 June 199749
8= Mary Harney [61]
(born 1953)
Mary Harney cropped.jpg
Tánaiste [58] [62] Progressive Democrats
(until 2009) [lower-alpha 3] 		26 June 1997 [58] [62] 13 September 2006 [58] [62] 44 Bertie Ahern 25th
26th
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment [58] [62] 26 June 1997 [58] [62] 13 September 2004 [58] [62] 25th
26th
Minister for Health and Children [62] [15] 29 September 2004 [62] [15] 19 January 2011 [62] [15] 51
27th
Brian Cowen 28th
Independent
(2009–2011) [lower-alpha 3]
8= Síle de Valera [64]
(born 1954)		– Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands [58] Fianna Fáil 26 June 1997 [58] 6 June 2002 [58] 42 Bertie Ahern 25th
10 Mary Coughlan [65]
(born 1965)
Mary Coughlan.jpg
Minister for Social and Family Affairs [62] Fianna Fáil 17 June 2002 [62] 29 September 2004 [62] 37 Bertie Ahern 26th
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food [62] [15] 29 September 2004 [62] [15] 7 May 2008 [62] [15] 39
27th
Tánaiste [15] 7 May 2008 [15] 9 March 2011 [15] 42 Brian Cowen 28th
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment [15] 7 May 2008 [15] 23 March 2010 [15] 42
Minister for Education and Skills [15] 23 March 2010 [15] 9 March 2011 [15] 44
Minister for Health and Children [15] 20 January 2011 [15] 9 March 2011 [15] 51
11 Mary Hanafin [66]
(born 1959)
Mary Hanafin cropped.jpg
Minister for Education and Science [62] [15] Fianna Fáil 29 September 2004 [62] [15] 7 May 2008 [62] [15] 45 Bertie Ahern 26th
27th
Minister for Social and Family Affairs [15] 7 May 2008 [15] 23 March 2010 [15] 48 Brian Cowen 28th
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport [15] 23 March 2010 [15] 9 March 2011 [15] 50
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation [15] 20 January 2011 [15] 9 March 2011 [15] 51
12= Joan Burton [67]
(born 1949)
Joan Burton 2014 (cropped).jpg
Minister for Social Protection [68] Labour 9 March 2011 [68] 6 May 2016 [68] 62 Enda Kenny 29th
Tánaiste [68] 4 July 2014 [68] 6 May 2016 [68] 65
12= Frances Fitzgerald [69]
(born 1950)
Frances Fitzgerald 2014 (cropped).png
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs [68] Fine Gael 9 March 2011 [68] 7 May 2014 [68] 60 Enda Kenny 29th
Minister for Justice [68] 8 May 2014 [68] 14 June 201763
30th
Tánaiste 6 May 201628 November 201765
Leo Varadkar 31st
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation 14 June 201728 November 201766
14= Jan O'Sullivan [70]
(born 1950)
Jan O'Sullivan.jpg
Minister for Education and Skills [68] Labour 11 July 2014 [68] 6 May 2016 [68] 53 Enda Kenny 29th
14= Heather Humphreys [71]
(born 1963)
Heather Humphreys 2016.jpg
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht [68] Fine Gael 11 July 2014 [68] 6 May 201651 Enda Kenny 29th
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs 6 May 201614 June 201752 30th
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht 14 June 201730 November 201754 Leo Varadkar 31st
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation 30 November 201727 June 202054
Minister for Rural and Community Development 27 June 202017 December 202257 Micheál Martin 32nd
Minister for Social Protection
Minister for Justice 27 April 20211 November 202158
Minister for Justice 25 November 202217 December 202259
Minister for Rural and Community Development 17 December 2022Incumbent59 Leo Varadkar 33rd
Minister for Social Protection
16= Mary Mitchell O'Connor [72]
(born 1959)
Mary Mitchell O'Connor 2011.jpg
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Fine Gael 6 May 201614 June 201756 Enda Kenny 30th
16= Katherine Zappone [73]
(born 1953)
Katherine Zappone.png
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Independent 6 May 201627 June 202062 Enda Kenny 30th
Leo Varadkar 31st
18 Regina Doherty [74]
(born 1971)
Regina Doherty official portrait 2020.jpg
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Fine Gael 14 June 201727 June 202046 Leo Varadkar 31st
19 Josepha Madigan [75]
(born 1970) [76] [77]
Josepha Madigan.jpg
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Fine Gael 30 November 201727 June 202048 Leo Varadkar 31st
20= Norma Foley [78]
(born 1970)
Norma Foley.jpeg
Minister for Education Fianna Fáil 27 June 202017 December 202250 Micheál Martin 32nd
17 December 2022Incumbent53 Leo Varadkar 33rd
20= Catherine Martin [79]
(born 1972)
Catherine Martin TD.jpg
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Green 27 June 202017 December 202247 Micheál Martin 32nd
17 December 2022Incumbent50 Leo Varadkar 33rd
20= Helen McEntee [80]
(born 1986)
2018 Helen McEntee (39947643565) (cropped).jpg
Minister for Justice Fine Gael 27 June 202027 April 202134 Micheál Martin 32nd
Minister without portfolio 27 April 20211 November 2021
Minister for Justice 1 November 202125 November 202235
Minister without portfolio 25 November 20221 June 202336 Leo Varadkar 33rd
Minister for Justice 1 June 2023Incumbent36 Leo Varadkar 33rd

Timeline

Catherine MartinHelen McEnteeNorma FoleyJosepha MadiganRegina DohertyMary Mitchell O'ConnorKatherine ZapponeJan O'SullivanHeather HumphreysJoan BurtonFrances Fitzgerald (politician)Mary HanafinMary Coughlan (politician)Síle de ValeraMary HarneyNora OwenNiamh BhreathnachMary O'RourkeGemma HusseyEileen DesmondMáire Geoghegan-QuinnConstance MarkieviczList of female cabinet ministers of the Republic of Ireland

Number of women ministers in each Cabinet

Key to parties
StateDáilElection/FormedCabinetNo. of
women in
cabinet		Party
composition		HeadDeputy
Irish Republic 1st 1918 election 1st Ministry 0 SF Cathal Brugha N/A
1919 2nd Ministry 1 Éamon de Valera N/A
2nd 1921 elections 3rd Ministry 0 SF Éamon de Valera N/A
1922 (Jan) 4th Ministry [lower-alpha 4] 0 SF (PT) Arthur Griffith N/A
Southern Ireland 1922 election 1st Provisional Government [lower-alpha 4] 0 Michael Collins N/A
3rd 1922 (Aug) 2nd Provisional Government 0 SF (PT) (minority) W. T. Cosgrave N/A
Irish Free State 1922 (Dec) 1st Executive Council 0 Kevin O'Higgins
4th 1923 election 2nd Executive Council 0 CnaG (minority) W. T. Cosgrave Kevin O'Higgins
5th 1927 (Jun) election 3rd Executive Council 0 CnaG (minority) W. T. Cosgrave Kevin O'Higgins
Ernest Blythe
6th 1927 (Sep) election 4th Executive Council 0 CnaG (minority) W. T. Cosgrave Ernest Blythe
1930 5th Executive Council 0
7th 1932 election 6th Executive Council 0 FF (minority) Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
8th 1933 election 7th Executive Council 0 FF (minority) Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
9th 1937 election 8th Executive Council 0 FF (minority) Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
Ireland 1937 1st Government 0
10th 1938 election 2nd Government 0 FF Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
11th 1943 election 3rd Government 0 FF (minority) Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
12th 1944 election 4th Government 0 FF Éamon de Valera Seán T. O'Kelly
13th 1948 election 5th Government 0 FG–Lab–CnaP–CnaT–NLP–Ind John A. Costello William Norton
14th 1951 election 6th Government 0 FF (minority) Éamon de Valera Seán Lemass
15th 1954 election 7th Government 0 FG–Lab–CnaT John A. Costello William Norton
16th 1957 election 8th Government 0 FF Éamon de Valera Seán Lemass
1959 9th Government 0 Seán Lemass Seán MacEntee
17th 1961 election 10th Government 0 FF (minority) Seán Lemass Seán MacEntee
18th 1965 election 11th Government 0 FF Seán Lemass Frank Aiken
1966 12th Government 0 Jack Lynch
19th 1969 election 13th Government 0 FF Jack Lynch Erskine H. Childers
20th 1973 election 14th Government 0 FG–Lab Liam Cosgrave Brendan Corish
21st 1977 election 15th Government 0 FF Jack Lynch George Colley
1979 16th Government 1 Charles Haughey
22nd 1981 election 17th Government 0 FG–Lab (minority) Garret FitzGerald Michael O'Leary
23rd 1982 (Feb) election 18th Government 0 FF (minority) Charles Haughey Ray MacSharry
24th 1982 (Nov) election 19th Government 1 FG–Lab
FG (minority) from Jan. 1987		 Garret FitzGerald Dick Spring
Peter Barry
25th 1987 election 20th Government 1 FF (minority) Charles Haughey Brian Lenihan
26th 1989 election 21st Government 1 FF–PD Charles Haughey Brian Lenihan
John Wilson
1992 22nd Government 1 Albert Reynolds John Wilson
27th 1992 election 23rd Government 2 FF–Lab
FF (minority) from Nov. 1994		 Albert Reynolds Dick Spring
1 Bertie Ahern
1994 24th Government 2 FG–Lab–DL John Bruton Dick Spring
28th 1997 election 25th Government 3 FF–PD (minority) Bertie Ahern Mary Harney
29th 2002 election 26th Government 2 FF–PD Bertie Ahern Mary Harney
20044
30th 2007 election 27th Government 3 FF–GP–PD Bertie Ahern Brian Cowen
2008 28th Government FF–GP–PD

FF–GP–Ind from Nov. 2009
FF (minority) from Jan. 2011

 Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan
31st 2011 election 29th Government 2 FG–Lab Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore
20144 Joan Burton
32nd 2016 election 30th Government 4 FG–Ind (minority) Enda Kenny Frances Fitzgerald
2017 (June) 31st Government 4 FG–Ind (minority) Leo Varadkar
2017 (November) Simon Coveney
33rd 2020 election 32nd Government 4 FF–FG–GP Micheál Martin Leo Varadkar
33rd Government Leo Varadkar Micheál Martin

Notes

  1. ↑ Some Ministers of State, including the Government Chief Whip, [5] attend cabinet meetings in a non-voting capacity but are not members of the Government. They are formally known as "Minister of State attending Government", [6] or colloquially as "Super Junior" ministers. [7]
  2. ↑ Éamon de Valera was President of Dáil Éireann or Príomh Aire in the Ministry of Dáil Éireann. [49] The 1922–1937 Irish Free State, which had no women cabinet ministers and no women Parliamentary Secretaries (junior ministers), used the title President of the Executive Council. [50] [18] The title of Taoiseach for the head of government was introduced in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. [50] [51] The first woman to serve as a cabinet minister under a Taoiseach was Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who was appointed in 1979 to Charles Haughey's first cabinet.
  3. 1 2 The Progressive Democrats dissolved in November 2009. [61] Mary Harney then sat as an independent TD [61] and continued to serve as a minister until her resignation on 19 January 2011, [63] shortly before she retired from politics at the 2011 general election.
  4. 1 2 The Fourth Ministry and First Provisional Government held office simultaneously for many months. [81] The membership of both was merged when the Second Provisional Government came to office after the 1922 general election. [82]

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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 two Governments of the 33rd Dáil, both 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 centrist 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.

References

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  11. 1 2 Constitution of Ireland, Article 13, Section 1
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