Merrion Hotel Controversy
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Merrion Hotel Controversy
The Katherine Zappone controversy, also known as the Merrion Hotel controversy or Merrion Gate, was a political scandal in Ireland involving associates and former colleagues of former Minister for Children Katherine Zappone who attended an outdoor gathering at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, on 21 July 2021, six days prior to her controversial appointment as UN special envoy. The gathering took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland. A total of about 50 guests attended the gathering organised by Zappone, including the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar. Following the publication of the story on 4 August by the ''Irish Independent'', there was widespread anger among opposition TDs. Ultimately Zappone would decline to take up the position as UN envoy following criticism of the appointment procedure. Background On 27 July 2021, during a Cabinet meeting, it was revealed that Zappone was to be appointed to the newly created position of "Special Envoy to the UN for Free ...
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Katherine Zappone
Katherine Zappone (; born 25 November 1953) is an American-Irish independent politician who served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May 2016 to June 2020. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 2016 to 2020. She previously served as a Senator from 2011 to 2016, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. She was nominated by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad in 2011, having been recommended by Eamon Gilmore, the then leader of Fine Gael's coalition partners, the Labour Party. With her Seanad nomination, she became the first openly lesbian member of the Oireachtas and the first member in a recognised same-sex relationship. She was elected to the Dáil for the Dublin South-West constituency at the 2016 general election, becoming the first openly lesbian TD and, by her own reckoning, the world's 32nd lesbian to be elected to a national parliament. In May 2016, after a delay in government formation, due to prolonged talks, ...
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Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency), Cork South-Central since 1989. He served as Leader of the Opposition (Ireland), Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2020 and held various Cabinet offices under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen. Born in Cork (city), Cork, Martin initially worked as a teacher before entering politics. He was elected to Cork City Council in 1985, and served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1992 to 1993. In 1989 Irish general election, 1989, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Cork South-Central, a seat he has represented ever since. After the victory of Fianna Fáil at the 1997 Ir ...
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Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin, and William O'Brien (trade unionist), William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress, it describes itself as a "democratic socialist party" in its constitution. Labour continues to be the political arm of the Irish trade union and labour movement and seeks to represent workers' interests in the Dáil and on a local level. Unlike many other Irish political parties, Labour did not arise as a faction of History of Sinn Féin, the original Sinn Féin party, although it incorporated Democratic Left (Ireland), Democratic Left in 1999, a party that traced its origins back to Sinn Féin. The party has served as a partner in coalition governments on eight occasions since its formation: seven times in coaliti ...
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Ivana Bacik
Ivana Catherine Bacik (born 25 May 1968) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Leader of the Labour Party since 24 March 2022 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since winning a by-election on 9 July 2021. Bacik previously served as Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad from 2011 to 2021, and a Senator for the Dublin University constituency from 2007 to 2021. She previously served as Deputy leader of Seanad Éireann from 2011 to 2016. Bacik is known in particular for her abortion rights campaigning since the 1980s, and her high media profile. Personal life Bacik's paternal grandfather, Charles Bacik, was a Czech factory owner who moved to Ireland in 1946. He eventually settled in Waterford and in 1947 was involved in the establishment of Waterford Crystal. Her mother's side of the family are Murphys from County Clare. Her father was an astronomer and took employment in a number of locations. As a result, she lived in London and So ...
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31st Government Of Ireland
31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits results in 31. It is a lucky prime and a happy number; two properties it shares with 13, which is its dual emirp and permutable prime. 31 is also a primorial prime, like its twin prime, 29. 31 is the number of regular polygons with an odd number of sides that are known to be constructible with compass and straightedge, from combinations of known Fermat primes of the form 22''n'' + 1. 31 is the third Mersenne prime of the form 2''n'' − 1. It is also the eighth Mersenne prime exponent, specifically for the number 2,147,483,647, which is the maximum positive value for a 32-bit signed binary integer in computing. After 3, it is the second Mersenne prime not to be a double Mersenne prime. 127, which is the 31st prime number, is a doubl ...
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Sunday World
The ''Sunday World'' is an Irish newspaper published by Independent News & Media. It is the second largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, and is also sold in Northern Ireland where a modified edition with more stories relevant to that region is produced. It was first published on 25 March 1973. Until 25 December 1988 all editions were printed in Dublin but since 1 January 1989 a Northern Ireland edition has been published and an English edition has been printed in London since March 1992. Origins The ''Sunday World'' was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper. Hugh McLaughlin and Gerry McGuinness launched it on 25 March 1973. It broke new ground in layout, content, agenda, columnists and use of sexual imagery. In 1976 and 1982 it was the only newspaper in the country published on St. Stephen's Day. The title also publishes a separate Northern Ireland newspaper edition. It is owned by Independent News & Media, a subsidiary of Mediahuis. Over the years i ...
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Dublin West (Dáil Constituency)
Dublin West is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies ( Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV). Boundaries The constituency includes Mulhuddart, Corduff, Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Carpenterstown, Barberstown, Clonsilla and Ongar. The portion in Dublin City includes Dublin Zoo and Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland.The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 defines the constituency as: TDs Elections 2020 general election 2016 general election 2014 by-election Following the resignation of Independent TD Patrick Nulty, a by-election was held on 23 May 2014, on the same day as the 2014 European and local elections. 2011 by-electi ...
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Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann and largest in terms of Irish members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as party leader on 2 June 2017 and as Taoiseach on 14 June; Kenny had been leader since 2002, and Taoiseach since 2011. Fine Gael was founded on 8 September 1933 following the merger of its parent party Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Centre Party and the Army Comrades Association. Its origins lie in the struggle for Irish independence and the pro-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War, with the party claiming the legacy of Michael Collins. In its early years, the party was commonly known as ''Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party'', abbreviated ''UIP'', and its official title in ...
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Minister For Enterprise, Trade And Employment
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment ( ga, An tAire Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostaíochta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is Simon Coveney, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State: *Dara Calleary, TD – Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation *Damien English, TD – Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses Overview The Minister heads one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas – Enterprise, Innovation, Growth; Quality, Work and Learning; Making Markets and Regulation work better; Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement; and the European Union. A large element of the work of the Department arises from Ireland's membership of a number of international organisations, in particul ...
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Paul Gallagher (barrister)
Paul Gallagher SC (born 20 March 1955) is an Irish barrister who was Attorney General of Ireland from 2007 to 2011 and again between 2020 and 2022. During his first term as Attorney General, there was a period of significant economic difficulty in the Republic of Ireland, causing him to advise on the bank guarantee scheme, the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency and the Troika programme. He has led a successful career as a barrister outside of Government. He has frequently appeared in the Irish courts on matters involving commercial and constitutional law. Early life and education Gallagher was born in Tralee in 1955 and grew up in Day Place. He received his primary education at CBS Tralee and secondary education at Castleknock College. Gallagher obtained a BCL from UCD in 1975 and completed a BL degree in the King's Inns in 1976. He returned to UCD to receive a B.A. in history and economics, graduating in 1978. He received an LLM degree from the University ...
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Attorney General Of Ireland
The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends government meetings. The current attorney general is Rossa Fanning, SC. Overview The office and functions of the attorney general are outlined in Article 30 of the Constitution of Ireland. The attorney general has always been a barrister rather than a solicitor, although this is not a requirement for the post. In cases where a barrister nominated by the Taoiseach to be the attorney general was not a senior counsel at the time, the government of the day has made them one first, as occurred in the cases of John Rogers BL and John M. Kelly BL. The attorney general advises the Government on the constitutionality of bills and treaties, and presents the Government's case if the Presiden ...
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