Michael Creed (born 29 June 1963) 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 Cork North-West constituency since 2007, and previously from 1989 to 2002. He previously 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 2016 to 2020.

Early and personal life

He is the son of the former TD and

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 ...

Donal Creed Donal John Creed (7 September 1924 – 23 November 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from June 1981 to February 1982 and from December 1982 to February 1986. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to ...

. Born in

Macroom Macroom (; ga, Maigh Chromtha) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, in 1963. Creed was educated at St. Colman's College,

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dái ...

and De La Salle College, in Macroom. He went on to third level at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and the College of Commerce,

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

. His qualifications are a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, Higher Diploma of Education and a Diploma in Legal Studies.

Political career

Creed was elected

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

in 1985 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 ...

of Bandon. He served on that authority until 2007. He was Chairman of Cork County Council from 2005 to 2006. He was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

at the 1989 general election and retained his seat at each election until losing it at the 2002 general election, to his Fine Gael running mate Gerard Murphy. He was Chairman of the Dáil Small Business and Services Committee from 1995 to 1997. He was party Spokesperson on Education, Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in 1994, Health 1989 to 1993, Youth and Sport 1993 to 1994. After regaining his Dáil seat at the 2007 general election, at the expense of Gerard Murphy, he was party Spokesperson on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 2007 to 2010. At the 2011 general election he held his seat after topping the poll in the first preference vote. In June 2010, he supported

Richard Bruton Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North since 2016, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He is the Chairman of th ...

's leadership challenge to

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 ...

. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, Creed was not re-appointed to the front bench. Upon Fine Gael forming a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

with the Labour Party in March 2011, to the surprise of many Creed remained as a backbench TD. He remained as a backbencher during the entire duration of the

31st Dáil 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 ...

. He was again elected to the Dáil at the 2016 general election. Following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016, Creed was appointed to the cabinet as

. He was re-appointed when

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

became Taoiseach in June 2017. He stayed in office until the formation of a

in 2020 of

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- ...

, Fine Gael 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 ...

in June 2020, when he was not appointed to cabinet.

References

External links

*
Michael Creed's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creed, Michael 1963 births Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Alumni of University College Cork Fine Gael TDs Irish farmers Local councillors in County Cork Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for Agriculture (Ireland) Politicians from County Cork People from Macroom