The Minister of State for European Affairs is a junior ministerial post at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Ireland with special responsibility for European Affairs. The Minister works with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The current officeholder is Thomas Byrne, TD, who was appointed in January 2025.
Name | Term of office | Party | Government | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Birmingham [1] | 13 February 1986 | 10 March 1987 | Fine Gael | 19th | |
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn | 12 March 1987 | 15 November 1991 | Fianna Fáil | 20th • 21st | |
Michael P. Kitt [2] | 15 November 1991 | 11 February 1992 | Fianna Fáil | 22nd | |
Tom Kitt [3] [4] | 13 February 1992 | 15 December 1994 | Fianna Fáil | 23rd | |
Gay Mitchell | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | Fine Gael | 24th | |
Dick Roche | 19 June 2002 | 29 September 2004 | Fianna Fáil | 26th | |
Noel Treacy | 29 September 2004 | 20 June 2007 | Fianna Fáil | 26th | |
Dick Roche | 20 June 2007 | 9 March 2011 | Fianna Fáil | 27th • 28th | |
Lucinda Creighton | 10 March 2011 | 11 July 2013 | Fine Gael | 29th | |
Paschal Donohoe | 12 July 2013 | 11 July 2014 | Fine Gael | 29th | |
Dara Murphy | 15 July 2014 | 20 June 2017 | Fine Gael | 29th • 30th | |
Helen McEntee | 20 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Fine Gael | 31st | |
Thomas Byrne | 1 July 2020 | 17 December 2022 | Fianna Fáil | 32nd [5] | |
Peter Burke | 21 December 2022 | 9 April 2024 | Fine Gael | 33rd [6] | |
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill | 9 April 2024 | 23 January 2025 | Fine Gael | 34th | |
Thomas Byrne | 29 January 2025 | Incumbent | Fianna Fáil | 35th |
The 26th government of Ireland was the government of Ireland formed after the 2002 general election to the 29th Dáil which had been held on 17 May 2002. It was led by Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach, with Progressive Democrats leader Mary Harney as Tánaiste. It was the first, and to date only, coalition government to be returned to government after an election; both parties increased their number of seats, and together secured a Dáil majority, where in the previous government they had governed together as a minority government dependent on the support of Independent TDs. It lasted for 5 years, 8 days.
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Noel Treacy was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Minister of State in various government departments and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency from 1982 to 2011.
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