Shane Alan McEntee (19 December 1956 – 21 December 2012) was 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 served as

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Mar ...

from 2011 to 2012. He served as 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) from 2005 to 2012.

Early life and family

McEntee was born in the village of

Nobber Nobber ( – referring to the description by the local native Irish population, to the development of moat around a Norman castle) is a village in north County Meath, Ireland. The village is located near a river called the Dee () and near White ...

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 ...

. He had seven siblings. His father Tony died in March 2011 at the age of 86, while his mother Madge outlived him. He became an active member of

when he joined the party at the age of 15. Before being elected, he worked as a farmer and agricultural sales representative. He ran the "Dee Local Bar". McEntee was also very involved in the GAA, both as trainer and player (until an injury ended his promising career). He played at the back with

, and won the 1983 Feis Cup, managed the Meath

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

team during the 1990s, and led three clubs (Ballinlough, Syddan, and Castletown) to finals of the

Meath Intermediate Football Championship Meath Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association second-tier competition between Gaelic football clubs organised by Meath GAA. The winning club is promoted to the Meath Senior Football Championship. In the 2021 f ...

, with two wins from the three. His brother

Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...

is a renowned surgeon, who won the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

with Meath in 1987 and 1988. Another brother,

Andy Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

went on to manage Meath, while Andy's son

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

also played for Meath, both after the death of their brother and uncle respectively. He was married with two daughters and a son. His daughter

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

succeeded him as TD for Meath East after his death.

Politics

A close friend of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, 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 legisl ...

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 ...

, McEntee's election candidacy began in 2004 when he was selected as the Fine Gael candidate in the Meath by-election, which was triggered by the resignation from the Dáil of former leader Fine Gael,

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 ...

. Polling was on 11 March 2005, and McEntee narrowly beat the

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- ...

candidate

Shane Cassells Shane Cassells (born 6 April 1978) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator for the Labour Panel since April 2020. He previously served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath West constituency from 2016 to 2020. Before ...

, and 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 ...

. McEntee was re-elected at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

general elections. He was the Fine Gael deputy spokesperson on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with special responsibility for Food and Fisheries from 2007 to 2011. McEntee gave an impassioned speech in defence of party leader Enda Kenny during the 2010 Fine Gael leadership challenge. McEntee was also a successful campaigner on behalf of families in counties Dublin, Meath and Kildare whose homes had been damaged by

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

in stone used in the foundations. On 10 March 2011, he was appointed as the

with responsibility for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety.

Death

McEntee died by suicide on 21 December 2012, two days after his 56th birthday. McEntee had been feeling under pressure because of criticism of a number of Government budgetary decisions. His funeral took place on 24 December 2012. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for his seat was held on 27 March 2013, and was won by his daughter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEntee, Shane 1956 births 2012 deaths Fine Gael TDs Gaelic games players from County Meath Gaelic football backs Gaelic football managers Irish businesspeople Irish farmers Irish politicians who committed suicide

Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Nobber Gaelic footballers Politicians from County Meath Suicides in the Republic of Ireland