Charlie McConalogue (born 29 October 1977) 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 served as

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine ( ga, An tAire Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Historically, the agriculture portfol ...

since September 2020. He 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 Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Donegal North-East constituency. He previously served as Minister of State for Law Reform from July 2020 to September 2020.

Early life

McConalogue has a degree in economics, politics and history from

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 ...

(UCD), which he completed after a year as Education Officer in the

UCD Students' Union University College Dublin Students' Union (UCDSU; ga, Aontas na Mac Léinn COBÁC) is the students' union of University College Dublin. It is the largest students' union in Ireland. The Union was founded in 1975 as the successor of the Student Re ...

. After graduation, he worked as a political organiser at the Fianna Fáil HQ in Dublin. Upon the death of his father, he returned home to manage the family farm near

Carndonagh Carndonagh (; ) is a town on the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland, close to Trawbreaga Bay. It is the site of the Donagh Cross (or St. Patrick's Cross), believed to date to the 7th century. The Irish name, ''Carn Domhnach'', means ...

in the north of

Inishowen Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...

, County Donegal. He was raised near

Gleneely Gleneely () is a village and census town on the Inishowen peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 236 people (up from 166 as of the 2006 census). Gleneely's Church of Ir ...

, a village in the north of Inishowen, and was in Australia before returning to the farm. He is married with two sons.

Political career

McConalogue was elected to

Donegal County Council Donegal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún na nGall) is the authority responsible for local government in County Donegal, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hou ...

at the 2009 local elections to represent the Inishowen local electoral area. After Jim McDaid's retirement and Niall Blaney's decision to step down from politics for personal reasons, Fianna Fáil had no sitting TD in Donegal North-East to contest the 2011 general election. The party chose McConalogue as Fianna Fáil's sole candidate for the constituency. In the election, he won 17.4% of the first-preference vote and was elected on the 9th count to fill the third and final seat, behind

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

's Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and

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 � ...

Joe McHugh Joe McHugh (born 16 July 1971) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs since September 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since 2016, and previously ...

. He was the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Children from April 2011 to July 2012. In July 2012, he was appointed as party spokesperson on Education and Skills. In the 2016 general election, after a redrawing of constituency boundaries, McConalogue ran alongside

Pat "the Cope" Gallagher Pat "the Cope" Gallagher ( ir, Pádraig Ó Gallchóir; born 10 March 1948) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2016 to 2020 and as a Minister of State from 1987 to 1994 and from 20 ...

as one of two Fianna Fáil candidates in the new five-seater Donegal constituency. McConalogue topped the poll and was elected on the first count. He represented Fianna Fáil in talks on government formation in 2016. On 1 July 2020, McConalogue was appointed 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 ...

at the Department of Justice and Equality with responsibility for law reform. On 2 September that year, he was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with the vacancy having arisen following the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal. On 23 December, all ministers in the Government restricted their movements after it emerged that McConalogue had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Brussels on 17 December. The initial result was negative. McConalogue went shopping in Dublin city centre hours ahead of a scheduled five-day follow-up COVID-19 test which led to the positive result he received "sometime between 10.30am and 11am" on 23 December. He displayed no symptoms and isolated in his native Donegal. McConalogue had been due to travel to Canada for St Patrick's Day in March 2022. However, he later confirmed that a positive COVID-19 test had prevented him from doing so. His period of isolation elapsed in time for him to sit on the "VIP lorry" at the parade in

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in C ...

. On 17 December 2022, he was re-appointed to the same position following Leo Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach.

References

External links

Charlie McConalogue's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConalogue, Charlie 1977 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Fianna Fáil TDs Irish farmers Local councillors in County Donegal Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Politicians from County Donegal Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for Agriculture (Ireland)