Dara Calleary (born 10 May 1973) 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 Christian ...

politician who has served as Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation since August 2022. 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 Parlia ...

(TD) for the

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aus ...

constituency since the 2007 general election. He 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 ...

from July to August 2020, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2018 to 2020 and Minister of State for Labour Affairs from 2009 to 2011.

Early life

Calleary was born in

Ballina, County Mayo Ballina ( ; ) is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west. The town ...

, in 1973. He was educated at St Oliver Plunkett National School and St Muredach's College. He later studied at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He previously worked with Chambers Ireland, the largest business organisation in Ireland, and also worked in an Irish bank. Calleary is the son of Seán Calleary who was a TD for Mayo East from 1973 to 1992, and the grandson of Phelim Calleary who was a TD for Mayo North from 1952 to 1969.

Political career

Calleary has been a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive since 1997 and has served on party policy committees on Transport, Enterprise and Employment, Agriculture and Youth Affairs. He was first elected to the Dáil at the 2007 general election. In 2007, Calleary chaired the first ever Ógra Fianna Fáil branch meeting in

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 ...

, at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. In February 2008, Calleary was appointed Chairman of Ógra Fianna Fáil, by

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 office ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste an ...

, at the National Youth Conference in

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in ho ...

Minister of State

On 22 April 2009, 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 special responsibility for labour affairs. On 23 March 2010, he was given additional responsibilities, as

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach. The position was first created ...

, at the Department of Finance and at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (following departmental restructuring), with special responsibilities for public service transformation and labour affairs.

Opposition spokesperson

In the Fianna Fáil Front Bench, he served as Opposition Spokesperson for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation from 2011 to 2016 and Opposition Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2016 to 2018. In March 2018, he was appointed Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil by party leader

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 o ...

. Following the 2020 general election, Calleary served as Fianna Fáil's chief negotiator as the party worked on a deal 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 Éir ...

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 ...

to enter into government as a coalition.

Appintment as Government Chief Whip

On 27 June 2020, at the formation of the new government, Calleary was appointed by

Micheál Martin as

with responsibility as

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

. Although Calleary was deputy leader of Fianna Fáil and chief negotiator for Fianna Fáil, he was not appointed to cabinet. The lack of any representative in the cabinet from the west of Ireland was heavily criticised by some. An article by the Mayo-based

Western People The ''Western People'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Ballina, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland. It was first published in 1883. The newspaper was part of the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group. Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into re ...

declared it "a cabinet fit for

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

". While Calleary accepted the role, he publicly acknowledged that he was "angry and disappointed" not to have been offered a departmental portfolio and said that he still saw himself eventually leading a department. On 1 July, he was appointed to the further position of Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport.

Appointment to cabinet and resignation

On 15 July 2020, following the sacking of

Barry Cowen Barry Cowen (born 28 August 1967) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency since the 2020 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 for the Offaly ...

from the position, Calleary was appointed as

by Micheál Martin. On 20 August 2020, Calleary was implicated in the

Oireachtas Golf Society scandal The Oireachtas Golf Society scandal, also known informally as "Golfgate", was a political scandal in Ireland involving past and present members of that country's parliament, the Oireachtas, who attended a gathering of the Oireachtas Golf Society ...

when news broke that Calleary and 81 others attended an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner the previous day, in apparent breach of Government COVID-19 guidelines. He resigned as Agriculture Minister the following morning. Calleary stated to MidWest Radio that "I made a big mistake. I shouldn't have gone to the function. I didn't want to let people down and I take responsibility for that mistake". Michael Clifford and Paul Hosford of the ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country ...

,'' suggested that the scandal had "left alleary'spolitical career in tatters" and had deeply rocked the Martin Cabinet. Three days later on 24 August 2020, he also resigned as Deputy Leader of

. In February 2022, a District Court concluded that the event had not breached public health guidelines and had been safely organised.

Return as Minister of State

On 31 August 2022, following the resignation of Robert Troy, Calleary was appointed as

with special responsibility for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation.

References

External links

*
Dara Calleary's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calleary, Dara 1973 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin

Dara Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara �רעwas a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also know ...

Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers of State of the 30th Dáil People from Ballina, County Mayo Politicians from County Mayo Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Government Chief Whip (Ireland) Ministers for Agriculture (Ireland)