Damien English (born 21 February 1978) is an Irish

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 � ...

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 Meath West constituency since 2007, and previously from 2002 to 2007 for the Meath constituency. He served as

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 o ...

from 2014 to 2023.

Early and personal life

English was educated at

Bohermeen Bohermeen is a Roman Catholic parish in the Irish Diocese of Meath. Its English name is a corruption of an ancient Irish language name, ''An Bóthar Mín'', which meant ''the smooth road''. Originally one of the five famed ancient roadways that ...

National School in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, and went on to attend Kells Community School. He further studied and part qualified with the

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the global professional management accounting body based out of the UK. CIMA offers training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects. It is focused on accountan ...

at the

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological Un ...

and

Dublin Business School Dublin Business School (DBS), incorporating Portobello College, is a private college in Ireland. With over 9,000 students, DBS provides full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in business, law, accounting, event mana ...

. He is married to Laura, and they have one son and three daughters.

Political career

English first entered politics when he was elected to

Meath County Council Meath County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae na Mí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, for the

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average po ...

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

, where he was the youngest council member. At the 2002 general election, he was elected to the

29th Dáil 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

as a Fine Gael TD for the Meath constituency, along with his Fine Gael colleague

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of ...

. He was the youngest TD in the

, aged 24 years. English was elected secretary of the

parliamentary party in September 2002, and became the party deputy Spokesperson for Arts, Sports and Tourism. In October 2004, he was appointed deputy Spokesperson for Justice and Community Affairs, with special responsibility for Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Prevention. He was a member of the

British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly The British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA, ga, Tionól Pharlaiminteach na Breataine agus na hÉireann) is a deliberative body consisting of members elected to those national legislative bodies found within Ireland and the United Kingdom ...

from 2002 to 2007. He served as deputy Spokesperson on Enterprise with special responsibility for Labour Affairs and Small Business from 2007 to 2010. In January 2007, English was linked to a statement by fellow Fine Gael TD John Deasy, regarding Deasy's intention to run for the leadership of the party if

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

failed to bring the party into government following the 2007 general election. English dismissed these claims as being false. He was party deputy Spokesperson for Finance, with special responsibility for Banking and Credit from October 2010 to March 2011. On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and at the Department of Education and Skills with responsibility for Skills, Research and Innovation. He served as

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who is ...

with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal from May 2016 to June 2017. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government with responsibility for Housing and Urban Development from June 2017 to June 2020. In July 2020, he was appointed

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employ ...

with responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses and

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection The Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Social Protection of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Social Protection. A Minister of ...

with responsibility for Redundancy and Insolvency Operations and Employer Services.

Ministerial resignation

In January 2023, news website ''

The Ditch ''The Ditch'', also known as ''Goodbye Jiabiangou'', is a 2010 film produced and directed by Wang Bing (director), Wang Bing, an independent Chinese filmmaker better known for his work on documentaries. The film, on the subject of Chinese forced ...

'' published a story claiming English failed to declare ownership of an existing home in his planning application for a new property in 2008. It also claimed he neglected to declare such ownership in the Dáil register of interests. He resigned as Minister of State on 12 January 2023.

References

External links

*
Damien English's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:English, Damien 1978 births Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Alumni of Dublin Business School Fine Gael TDs Local councillors in County Meath Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil Young Fine Gael Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil