Brendan Smith (born 1 June 1956) 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 Chairman of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party since May 2016. 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 Parli ...

(TD) for the

Cavan–Monaghan Cavan Monaghan (known as Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan until 2007) is a township in Peterborough County in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of the city of Peterborough. History The original townships of Cavan and Monaghan were survey ...

constituency since

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Justice and Law Reform from January 2011 to March 2011, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 2008 to 2011,

Minister of State for Children The Minister of State for Children was a junior ministerial post in the Departments of Health and Children, Justice and Law Reform and Education and Skills of the Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is ...

from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 2004 to 2007.

Early life

Born in

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

in 1956, Smith was educated at

Bawnboy Bawnboy () is a small village and townland in a valley at the foot of Slieve Rushen, between Ballyconnell and Swanlinbar, in County Cavan, Ireland. A synod of the Roman Catholic Provincial Council of Armagh was held in Owengallees, Baunbuidhe ...

National School, St. Camillus College,

Killucan The villages of Killucan () and Rathwire () are co-located in the east of County Westmeath, Ireland. They have a combined population of 1,370 according to the 2016 census. Killucan is on the R156 road about from Mullingar and from Dublin. ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

, and

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, where he gained 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 ...

in Politics and Economics. For 15 years he worked as special advisor to the Fianna Fáil politician and former

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoi ...

, John Wilson.

Political career

Smith 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 1992 general election for the

constituency and has been re-elected at every subsequent election since. In the 28th Dáil, he was Government Whip on the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. In a 2004 reshuffle, Smith was appointed by

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 a ...

as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with special responsibility for Food and Horticulture. Following the 2007 general election, Smith became

. On 7 May 2008, he was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

's cabinet. In July 2010, Smith launched the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. Its overall target to increase the value of Ireland's agri-food and fisheries exports by €5bn to reach €12bn by 2020. A September 2012 progress report on the Food Harvest 2020 strategy, found that farmers and other primary producers had passed the halfway mark towards meeting their 2020 targets. In 2010, during his term as Minister for Agriculture, he offered free cheese to Ireland's poor via a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

scheme that had been around since the 1980s. The public received Smith's announcement poorly and it was reported outside Ireland as the country became "a laughing stock internationally".> Smith was then forced to defend his own scheme. Following the resignation of

Dermot Ahern Dermot Christopher Ahern (born 20 April 1955) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Justice and Law Reform from 2008 to 2011, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2008, Minister for Communications, Marine a ...

from the cabinet in January 2011, Smith was also appointed as Minister for Justice and Law Reform. Just before leaving office, Smith gave the go-ahead for

genetically modified organism A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

(GMO) foods to enter Ireland. He told the media that Ireland had "altered its voting position" and would back proposals from the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

"aimed at authorising the placing on the market of food, food ingredients and feed containing, consisting of, or produced from genetically modified maize and cotton". Smith also said that Ireland would now tolerate "the low-level presence of, as yet, unauthorised GMO varieties in imports of animal food". He was one of just 19 Fianna Fáil TDs re-elected to the 31st Dáil, following the 2011 general election. He was initially appointed as the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Education and Skills, serving from April 2011 to July 2012. In 2012, he was made party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as Border Region Development. He held this position until the 2016 general election.

Political career since 2016

He was re-elected to the Dáil for Cavan Monaghan constituency at the 2016 general election along with party colleague Niamh Smyth TD. In May 2016, he was appointed as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. The previous month he was appointed Chairman of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party. In January 2019, he announced he was seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination to contest the 2019 European elections for the Midlands North West constituency. He secured the nomination at a convention of Fianna Fáil party delegates in

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in March 2019, but did not win a seat in the subsequent election. After the election Smith told a local radio station that the Fianna Fáil party had made a mistake in running two candidates rather than one, he also confirmed that he planned to run for the Dáil at the next election. At the 2020 general election, he again won re-election to the Dáil.

References

External links

*
Brendan Smith's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Brendan 1956 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil 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 for Agriculture (Ireland) Ministers for Justice (Ireland) Ministers of State of the 29th Dáil Ministers of State of the 30th Dáil Politicians from County Cavan