Patrick O'Donovan (born 21 March 1977) is an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...

politician who has served as Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport since January 2025. He previously served as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science from 2024 to 2025 and a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

from 2016 to 2024. He has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Limerick County constituency since 2016, and from 2011 to 2016 for the

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

constituency.

Personal life

He was born and raised in

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicised Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city. It is also the county t ...

, County Limerick. He has a degree in chemistry from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

. After working as an analytical chemist and industry consultant, he returned to college obtaining a Graduate Diploma in Education from

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (''Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál''), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the ...

, Limerick. He later worked as a primary school teacher. In 2014, he married Eileen Keary; and they have three children.

Early career

He was a member of Limerick County Council for the

local electoral area from 2003 to 2011. In January 2014, he called for "tougher controls on the use of open source internet browsers and payment systems" which he claimed allowed users to remain anonymous in the illegal trade of drugs, weapons and pornography.

In government

Minister of State

On 19 May 2016, following the 2016 general election and the formation of minority Fine Gael government led by

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 (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

, O'Donovan was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport with responsibility for Tourism and Sport. On 20 June 2017, following the appointment of

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

as Taoiseach, he was appointed by the new government as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and at the Department of Finance with responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment. In August 2017, he claimed in an interview with the '' Sunday Independent'', that the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

were responsible for the

Dublin and Monaghan bombings The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Three car bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a ...

. Fine Gael declined to comment on the matter. On 1 July 2020, he was appointed by the new government formed after the 2020 general election led by

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...

as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with responsibility for the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) (; legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Government of Ireland, Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of owned and ren ...

. In December 2022, following the appointment of Leo Varadkar as taoiseach, he was re-appointed to the same post, as well as the post of Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media with special responsibility for the

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

. On 29 June 2023 he was hospitalised after collapsing in the chamber of Dáil Éireann. Ten weeks later he had recovered sufficiently to resume his post.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

On 9 April 2024, O'Donovan was appointed as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science following the appointment of

Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...

as Taoiseach. He was appointed by Fine Gael as director of elections for Daniel Butler in the 2024 Limerick mayoral election.

Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport

On 23 January 2025, O'Donovan was appointed as Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

led by

, following the 2024 general election.

References

External links

*
Patrick O'Donovan's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Patrick 1977 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Members of Limerick County Council Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Fine Gael local councillors Members of the 34th Dáil Ministers for education of Ireland