Minister for Defence (Ireland)

Last updated

Minister for Defence
Irish Department of Defence.png
Simon Harris at the Special European Council - 2024 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Simon Harris
since 23 January 2025
Department of Defence
Member of
Seat Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland
Nominator Taoiseach
Appointer President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder Richard Mulcahy
Formation22 January 1919
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Minister for Defence (Irish : An tAire Cosanta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Defence. The current Minister for Defence is Simon Harris, TD. [1] He is also Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Contents

The Department of Defence headquarters are in Newbridge, County Kildare Department of Defence HQ Newbridge Co Kildare frontshot.jpg
The Department of Defence headquarters are in Newbridge, County Kildare

The department is responsible for the Irish Defence Forces. The Ministers and Secretaries Acts 1924 assigned the minister the additional title of Commander-in-Chief as the Chairman of the Council of Defence. The Defence Act 1954 removed this title, as a result of the reconstitution of the Council of Defence. The President of Ireland, a largely ceremonial role, is considered the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces. [2] In practice, the Minister acts on the President's behalf and reports to the Irish Government. The Minister for Defence is advised by the Council of Defence on the business of the Department of Defence. [3]

The Minister is assisted by a Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Thomas Byrne, TD.

Ministers for Defence since 1919

  Denotes acting Minister
NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s) [a]
Richard Mulcahy [b]
(1st time)		22 January 19191 April 1919 Sinn Féin 1st DM
Cathal Brugha [c] 1 April 19199 January 1922 Sinn Féin 2nd DM  • 3rd DM
Richard Mulcahy
(2nd time)		10 January 192219 March 1924 Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) 4th DM  • 1st PG  • 2nd PG  • 5th DM  •
1st EC  • 2nd EC
W. T. Cosgrave (acting) [d] 20 March 192421 November 1924 Cumann na nGaedheal 2nd EC
Peter Hughes 21 November 192423 June 1927 Cumann na nGaedheal 2nd EC
Desmond FitzGerald 23 June 19279 March 1932 Cumann na nGaedheal 3rd EC  • 4th EC  • 5th EC
Frank Aiken 9 March 19328 September 1939 Fianna Fáil 6th EC  • 7th EC  • 8th EC  • 1st  • 2nd
Oscar Traynor
(1st time)		8 September 193918 February 1948 Fianna Fáil 2nd  • 3rd  • 4th
Thomas F. O'Higgins 18 February 19487 March 1951 Fine Gael 5th
Seán Mac Eoin
(1st time)		7 March 195113 June 1951 Fine Gael 5th
Oscar Traynor
(2nd time)		13 June 19512 June 1954 Fianna Fáil 6th
Seán Mac Eoin
(2nd time)		2 June 195420 March 1957 Fine Gael 7th
Kevin Boland 20 March 195711 October 1961 Fianna Fáil 8th  • 9th
Gerald Bartley 11 October 196121 April 1965 Fianna Fáil 10th
Michael Hilliard 21 April 19652 July 1969 Fianna Fáil 11th  • 12th
Jim Gibbons 2 July 19699 May 1970 Fianna Fáil 13th
Jerry Cronin 9 May 197014 March 1973 Fianna Fáil 13th
Paddy Donegan 14 March 19732 December 1976 Fine Gael 14th
Liam Cosgrave (acting) [e] 2 December 197616 December 1976 Fine Gael 14th
Oliver J. Flanagan 16 December 19765 July 1977 Fine Gael 14th
Bobby Molloy 5 July 197711 December 1979 Fianna Fáil 15th
Pádraig Faulkner 12 December 197915 October 1980 Fianna Fáil 16th
Sylvester Barrett 15 October 198030 June 1981 Fianna Fáil 16th
James Tully 30 June 19819 March 1982 Labour 17th
Paddy Power 9 March 198214 December 1982 Fianna Fáil 18th
Patrick Cooney 14 December 198214 February 1986 Fine Gael 19th
Paddy O'Toole 14 February 198610 March 1987 Fine Gael 19th
Michael J. Noonan 10 March 198712 July 1989 Fianna Fáil 20th
Brian Lenihan 12 July 198931 October 1990 Fianna Fáil 21st
Charles Haughey (acting) [e] 1 November 19905 February 1991 Fianna Fáil 21st
Brendan Daly 5 February 199114 November 1991 Fianna Fáil 21st
Vincent Brady 14 November 199111 February 1992 Fianna Fáil 21st
John Wilson 11 February 199212 January 1993 Fianna Fáil 22nd
David Andrews [f]
(1st time)		12 January 199315 December 1994 Fianna Fáil 23rd
Hugh Coveney [f] 15 December 199423 May 1995 Fine Gael 24th
Seán Barrett [f] 23 May 199526 June 1997 Fine Gael 24th
David Andrews
(2nd time)		26 June 19978 October 1997 Fianna Fáil 25th
Michael Smith 8 October 199729 September 2004 Fianna Fáil 25th  • 26th
Willie O'Dea 29 September 200418 February 2010 Fianna Fáil 26th  • 27th  • 28th
Brian Cowen (acting) [e] 18 February 201023 March 2010 Fianna Fáil 28th
Tony Killeen 23 March 201019 January 2011 Fianna Fáil 28th
Éamon Ó Cuív [g] 20 January 20119 March 2011 Fianna Fáil 28th
Alan Shatter [h] 9 March 20117 May 2014 Fine Gael 29th
Enda Kenny (acting) [e] 7 May 201411 July 2014 Fine Gael 29th
Simon Coveney [i]
(1st time)		11 July 20146 May 2016 Fine Gael 29th
Enda Kenny [e] 6 May 201614 June 2017 Fine Gael 30th
Leo Varadkar [e] 14 June 201727 June 2020 Fine Gael 31st
Simon Coveney [j]
(2nd time)		27 June 202017 December 2022 Fine Gael 32nd
Micheál Martin [k] 17 December 202223 January 2025 Fianna Fáil 33rd  • 34th
Simon Harris [l] 23 January 2025Incumbent Fine Gael 35th
Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "List of Ministers and Ministers of State". Government of Ireland . 18 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Defence Act 1954 ( No. 18 of 1954 ). Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book .
  3. ↑ Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 , s. 8: Constitution of the Council of Defence ( No. 16 of 1924, s. 8 ), "the Minister for Defence [...] shall be assisted by a Council of Defence". Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 27 June 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.