Éamon Ó Cuív (; born 23 June 1950) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Galway West constituency since the 1992 general election. He previously served as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2011 to 2012, as

Minister for Social Protection The Minister for Social Protection ( ga, An tAire Cosanta Sóisialta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Social Protection. The current Minister for Social Protection is Heather Humphreys. She is als ...

from 2010 to 2011, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs from 2002 to 2010, and as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

from 1997 to 2002. He also served as

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An tAire Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The ...

and

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

from January to March 2011, appointed to these positions in addition to his own on the resignation of other members of the government. He served as a Senator for the

Cultural and Educational Panel The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five ...

from 1989 to 1992. He unsuccessfully contested the leadership of Fianna Fáil after the resignation of

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

. He lost to

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

. Martin appointed Ó Cuív as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil, following

Brian Lenihan Jnr Brian Joseph Lenihan (21 May 1959 – 10 June 2011) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from March 2011 to June 2011, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law ...

's death. However, Ó Cuív ceased to be Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil on 29 February 2012, because of his opposition to his party's stance on the

European Fiscal Compact The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union; also referred to as TSCG, or more plainly the Fiscal Stability Treaty is an intergovernmental treaty introduced as a new stricter version of the Stability ...

. Ó Cuiv is the grandson of Fianna Fáil founder,

Taoiseach 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 (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

and

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

Early life

Ó Cuív is the son of

Brian Ó Cuív Brian Ó Cuív (1916 – 14 November 1999) was a Celtic scholar who specialised in Irish history and philology. Life Ó Cuív was professor of Celtic Studies at University College Dublin and later at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Hi ...

, professor of Celtic Studies at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

, and Emer de Valera, who was the last surviving daughter of

founder,

and

, when she died at the age of 93 in February 2012. He is a nephew of

Vivion de Valera Vivion Laurence de Valera (13 December 1910 – 16 February 1982) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, businessman and lawyer who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1945 to 1981. He was the eldest child of Éamon de Valera and Sinéad de Vale ...

, a former TD, and is a first cousin of

Síle de Valera Síle, Gaelic-Irish female given name. Bearers of the name * Síle Ní Mathgamna, died 1473. * Síle Ní Siurtáin, died 1485. * Síle Níc Ceallaigh, died 1486. * Síle Níc Carthaigh, died 1489. * Síle Ní Raghalligh, died 1491. * Síle ...

, former Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, and Aindrias Ó Caoimh, former judge of the High Court and of the European Court of Justice. He was born in

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. Location and access Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...

and was educated at

Oatlands College Oatlands College ( ga, Coláiste Fhearann an Choirce) is a voluntary Christian Brothers secondary school for boys aged 12–18, located in Mount Merrion, County Dublin in Ireland. It prepares students for Junior Certificate and Leaving Certif ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

. Before entering politics, he was the manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development.

Surname

Ó Cuív's family surname was changed from by his grandfather Shán Ó Cuív, a

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

journalist. In the early 20th century Shán changed the spelling of his surname to conform to a simplified spelling system of his own invention which he called ''An Leitriú Shimplí''. The letter 'v' is extremely rare in Irish outside modern loanwords, not being one of the 18 letters of the

Irish alphabet Irish orthography is very etymological which allows the same written form to represent all dialects of Irish and remain regular. For example, ("head") may be read in Mayo and Ulster, in Galway, or in Munster. A spelling reform in the mid ...

Political career

National politics

Ó Cuív first stood for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election in the Galway West constituency, where he was the last-placed of the four Fianna Fáil candidates, only two of whom were elected. He did better in the 1989 general election, substantially increasing his share of the first-preference votes, but was the only one of the three Fianna Fáil candidates not to be elected. He was then elected to the 19th Seanad as a Senator for the

. He served there until the 1992 general election, when he finally became a TD for Galway West. His vote had increased significantly and he was elected on the first count, coming a close second for Fianna Fáil behind the Labour Party's

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

. At the 1997 general election, he was again elected in second place on the first count, this time being narrowly behind his Fianna Fáil colleague Frank Fahey. At the 2002 general election, he comfortably topped the poll, with over 20% of the first-preference votes. Ó Cuív again topped the poll in Galway West at the 2007 general election. In 1994, Ó Cuív raised concern amongst some in Fianna Fáil when he suggested the possibility of a prospective conditional return to the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

as a gesture to Unionists in Northern Ireland. However, a straw poll of backbench Fianna Fáil TDs in 1998 showed that this had little support.

Ministerial career

In 1997, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, with responsibility for the Gaeltacht and the islands, serving under his cousin

, who was the senior minister at the department. In 2001, he was reassigned as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development with responsibility for rural development and the Western Development Commission. Following the 2002 general election, he was appointed to the cabinet as Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. He publicly spoke of voting "No" in the first referendum on the

Treaty of Nice The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European C ...

. This caused controversy as the government of which he was a member had negotiated the Treaty and called for a "Yes" vote. As minister, he introduced the

Official Languages Act 2003 The Official Languages Act 2003 ( ga, Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003) is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland. The Act sets out rules regarding use of the Irish language by public bodies; established the office of to monitor and enforce compli ...

, which created the office of

An Coimisinéir Teanga The Coimisinéir Teanga (English: ''Language Commissioner'') is an office created by the Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003 (English: ''Official Languages Act'') in the Republic of Ireland to promote and safeguard the respective language rights o ...

. Ó Cuív was at the centre of a controversy surrounding the official name of An Daingean /

Dingle Dingle ( Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about southwest of Tralee and northwest of Kill ...

, a small Gaeltacht town in west County Kerry. The residents of the town held a plebiscite in November 2006, to determine which version of the town name should be used. Ó Cuív originally signalled that he was happy to abide by the locals' decision, but then said that the name could not legally be changed back to Dingle, following advice from the

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 pa ...

. Ó Cuív was re-appointed to the same cabinet position after the 2007 election, and again in 2008 when

succeeded as Taoiseach. In 2007, Ó Cuív again called for Ireland to return to the Commonwealth as a full member state, in light of the restoration of devolution to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and the meeting of the

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. In July 2009, Ó Cuív used a government helicopter to open a playground, at the cost of €10,000. On 23 March 2010, in a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

, he was appointed as

. After the resignation of

Tony Killeen Tony Killeen (born 9 June 1952) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served Minister for Defence from 2010 to 2011, Minister of State for Fisheries and Forestry from 2008 to 2010, Minister of State at the Department of the Environmen ...

in January 2011, Ó Cuív was also appointed as

, and he was also appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government after

John Gormley John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...

's resignation days later. On 22 January 2011, after the resignation of Fianna Fáil leader

, Ó Cuív stated that he wished to be a candidate in the resulting election for the leadership of Fianna Fáil. He confirmed this on the

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

News.

Opposition

Ó Cuiv was the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources after Fianna Fáil were ousted from power at the 2011 general election. On 8 August 2011, party leader

, named Ó Cuiv as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, replacing Brian Lenihan. On 29 February 2012, Ó Cuív resigned as Fianna Fáil's deputy leader and Communications Spokesperson. He resigned from these positions due to dissatisfaction with his party's position on the Fiscal Compact Referendum. Fianna Fáil leader

stated that Ó Cuív would face expulsion from the parliamentary party if he did not vote with the party on the Fiscal Compact in the Dáil. Coming just a week before their party conference, Ó Cuív's resignation caused a split down the middle of the Fianna Fáil party. On 12 July 2012, Ó Cuív was reappointed to the Fianna Fáil front bench as Spokesperson for Agriculture and Food, and on Community Affairs. The post of deputy leader was not filled in the reshuffle. On 8 November 2018, Ó Cuív was sacked from the Fianna Fáil front bench for unveiling a candidate in a Northern Ireland election without the party's permission. In 2018, he was one of 25 TDs to vote against the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, which proposed to replace the protection of the life of the unborn inserted by the Eighth Amendment with a provision allowing the termination of pregnancy to be regulated by law. This amendment was approved in a referendum in May 2018 by 66.4%, including 65.9% in his constituency. Ó Cuív was one of 15 TDs to vote against the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill, which became law at the end of 2018. Following the 2020 general election, he said that he was "completely against" Fianna Fáil forming a coalition government with

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 � ...

and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. He later went on to publicly doubt the programme for government.

References

External links

Official websiteÉamon Ó Cuív's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocuiv, Eamon 1950 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin De Valera family Fianna Fáil TDs Local councillors in County Galway Members of the 19th Seanad Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for Defence (Ireland) Ministers for the Environment (Ireland) Ministers for Social Affairs (Ireland) Ministers of State of the 28th Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Politicians from County Galway Fianna Fáil senators People educated at Oatlands College