Paul Kehoe (born 11 January 1973) 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

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

constituency since 2002. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in September 2020. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Defence from 2011 to 2020 and Government Chief Whip from 2011 to 2016.

Early and private life

Kehoe was born in

Bree, County Wexford Bree () is a village located in the centre of County Wexford, in Ireland. As of the 2016 census, Bree had a population of 193 people. History There is a well-preserved portal tomb (sometimes called a dolmen) located nearby at Ballybrittas, on ...

, in 1973. The son of Myles and Bernadette Kehoe, his father was a farmer and political activist. He was educated at St. Mary's

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

, and Kildalton Agricultural College, County Kilkenny. Kehoe is also a farmer. He is married to Brigid O'Connor, of

Taghmon Taghmon (; ) is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R738 regional road, 14 km west of Wexford town and 25 km east-southeast of New Ross. History It can be established, from historical records, that the area now com ...

, and the couple have three children.

Political career

Kehoe was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD for the

constituency at the 2002 general election. In June 2002,

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 ...

became

Leader of Fine Gael The Leader of Fine Gael is the most senior politician within the Fine Gael political party in Ireland. Since 2 June 2017, the office has been held by Leo Varadkar following the resignation of Enda Kenny. The deputy leader of Fine Gael is Simon ...

and Kehoe was appointed Fine Gael Spokesperson for Communications, Marine and Environment. He has also served as Fine Gael Assistant Chief Whip. He was re-elected at the 2007, 2011,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

general elections. On 9 March 2011, he was appointed as to be

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 ...

, with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip, and Minister of State at the Department of Defence, by the coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party led by

. On 6 May 2016, he was appointed as Minister of State to the same departments by the new minority government of Fine Gael and Independents led by

. He did not continue as Government Chief Whip, but continued to attend government meetings, with increased duties as Minister of State where Kenny assigned himself as Minister for Defence. On 14 June 2017, he was appointed as Minister of State to the same departments by the new minority government of Fine Gael and Independents led by Leo Varadkar, where Varadkar similarly assigned himself as Minister for Defence. During his term as Minister of State for Defence, Kehoe was the subject of controversy for comments he made about Naval Service vessels being docked, with two former Irish Naval Service officers calling on him to resign and stating he "smacks of a person who doesn't know how the military operates". Kehoe's home was targeted by protesters in April 2019. During the 2020 general election, Kehoe's office was targeted by protestors from the Air Corps who encouraged voters to not give him any preference votes. He won 8.4% of the

first preference votes In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

, and was re-elected on the 11th count without reaching the quota. Kehoe was not appointed to ministerial office in the coalition government formed on 27 June 2020 by

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 ...

, 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 f ...

. In 2021, Kehoe opposed a government proposal to give a €500 bonus to frontline workers, calling it "mad" and "crazy".

References

External links

*
Paul Kehoe's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kehoe, Paul 1973 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Irish farmers 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 of State of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil Politicians from County Wexford Government Chief Whip (Ireland)