Séamus Kirk (born 26 April 1945) is an Irish former

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 ...

politician who served as

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

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 rea ...

from 2009 to 2011 and a

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. I ...

from 1987 to 1992. 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 Parl ...

(TD) for the Louth constituency from 1982 to 2016.

Background

Kirk was born in Drumkeith,

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, M ...

. He is married to Mary McGeough. They have three sons and one daughter and live in

Knockbridge Knockbridge () is a village in County Louth, Ireland. It is located in the townland of Ballinlough (''Baile an Locha'') in the historical barony of Dundalk Upper. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 667 people. Knockbridge ...

, County Louth. He was educated at CBS

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. He was a farmer and agricultural adviser before entering politics. He is a former footballer who played for the Louth county team.

Political career

He was a member of Louth County Council from 1974 to 1985, and he was first elected to the Dáil Éireann at the November 1982 general election as a member of the

24th Dáil Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. He was returned in each subsequent election until his retirement. Kirk was Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food from 1987 to 1992. He served as chairman of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party from 2002 until October 2009. At the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

constituency. His running mate Liam Aylward took a seat for Fianna Fáil. On 13 October 2009, Kirk succeeded John O'Donoghue as

after O'Donoghue resigned over an expenses scandal. He was nominated for that post by Taoiseach

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 ...

and seconded by Tanáiste Mary Coughlan, and he defeated Fine Gael's

Dinny McGinley Denis McGinley (born 27 April 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from 2011 to 2014. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal South-West constituency from 1982 to 2016. Background McGinley w ...

by 87 votes to 51 votes. McGinley had been nominated by his party's leader,

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 fro ...

. In September 2014, he announced he would not be contesting the 2016 general election.

References

External links

Séamus Kirk's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Seamus 1945 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Fianna Fáil TDs Irish farmers Irish sportsperson-politicians Local councillors in County Louth Louth inter-county Gaelic footballers Members of the 24th Dáil Members of the 25th Dáil Members of the 26th Dáil 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 Ministers of State of the 25th Dáil Ministers of State of the 26th Dáil Politicians from County Louth Presiding officers of Dáil Éireann