| Micheál Martin, TD | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 29, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Mary Harney |
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| In office January 27, 2000 – September 29, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Brian Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Mary Harney |
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| In office June 26, 1997 – January 27, 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Niamh Bhreathnach |
| Succeeded by | Michael Woods |
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| Born | 16 August 1960 Cork Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse | Mary O'Shea |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Micheál[1] Martin (Irish: Mícheál Ó Máirtín; born 16 August, 1960) is a senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South Central and is currently the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment. He has previously served as Minister for Education & Science (1997-2000) and Minister for Health & Children (2000-2004).
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Early & private life
Martin was born in Cork in 1960. The son of Paddy Martin, a former international boxer, he was educated locally at Coláiste Chríost Rí, a famous school on the south side of the city. Martin later attended University College Cork where he qualified with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently completed his Master of Arts thesis in history, before deciding to embark on a career as a secondary school teacher. For a year he was a teacher at Presentation Brothers College, Cork. Martin is married to Mary O’Shea and has four children - two boys and two girls. He currently lives in Ballinlough in Cork.
Early political career
It was during his time at university that Martin first became involved in politics. He was a prominent member of the university cumann of Ógra Fianna Fáil, the youth wing of the party, and later served as national chairman of Ógra. Martin's political career began in earnest in 1985 when he was elected to Cork Corporation as a Fianna Fáil candidate. He served on that authority until 1999, with his brother, Seán Martin, joining him as councillor in 1997. Martin contested his first Dáil seat in the 1987 general election, however, he was unsuccessful in getting elected on that occasion. Martin was eventually elected to Dáil Éireann for the Cork South Central constitiency following the 1989 general election. In his first few years as a TD he served on a number of Oireachtas committees, including the Irish Language, Crime and Finance. Martin also enhanced his political profile during this period by serving as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1992. Two years later in December 1994 Bertie Ahern was elected as the new leader of Fianna Fáil as the party lost power and went into opposition in the Dáil. Martin, however, joined Ahern’s new front bench at the start of 1995 as Spokesperson on Education & the Gaeltacht.
Cabinet career: 1997–present
Minster for Education & Science
When Fianna Fáil returned to power in 1997 Martin was the automatic choice to take charge of the newly-expanded position of Minister for Education & Science. At 36 he was the youngest member of Ahern's government. As a former teacher himself Martin was seen as being a good choice for minister and is regarded to have done well for the education sector as a whole. A booming economy provided for an unprecedented level of funding for capital developments across primary, post primary and third level, which Martin presided over.
Minister for Health & Children
In a cabinet reshuffle in January 2000 Martin was appointed Minister for Health & Children. The health portfolio in Irish politics is seen as something of a ‘poisoned chalice’, particularly for a TD with promotion and leadership ambitions. Martins’ predecessor, Brian Cowen, even went so far as to describe the position as ‘like being in Angola’, because landmines can go off at any time. Martin’s tenure as minister is difficult to access. The high point of his incumbency was, in spite of severe opposition, the introduction of a ban on tobacco smoking in all Irish workplaces, including pubs and restaurants. The most vocal opposition to this plan came from publicans who claimed the introduction of a ban would result in a loss of profit for them. Martin, however, did not relent and the smoking ban was introduced on 29 March, 2004, thus making the Republic of Ireland the first country in the world to introduce a blanket ban on smoking in the workplace. Martin has received worldwide praise from health chiefs, particularly the European Respiratory Society, for his courage in introducing the ban, which has a 95% compliance rate. Some of his other successes as minister include the development of the National Health Strategy which provided for 900 additional beds in the hospital system, as well as the introduction of the first overhaul of the health system in 30 years which included the abolition of the health boards and the establishment of the Health Service Executive. Some of the low points of Martin’s tenure included the failure to overcome some of the traditional problems associated with the health service such as hospital bed shortages and long accident and emergency queues. Other problems for Martin included a controversy regarding the retention of organs from the deceased without permission, as well as several infant deaths due to shortcomings in maternity wards. The failure to implement the root-and-branch reforms suggested by the long-awaited Hanley report is another example of one of the problems faced by Martin as Minister for Health.
Minster for Enterprise, Trade & Employment
In September 2004, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, announced his long-awaited for cabinet reshuffle. It was widely expected among political commentators that Martin would vacate the Health portfolio, and was even tipped to become Foreign Minister. In the end he did a straight swap with Mary Harney, becoming Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, one of the senior economic positions in the government. In September 2005 the government’s economic record regarding the cost of living came under scrutiny from the RTÉ television programme Rip-Off Republic. This led to Martin abolishing the controversial groceries order, a piece of legislation which kept prices artificially high. As minister he has also established a new consumer agency which advocates and represents consumer’s interests.
The future
From an early stage in his ministerial career Martin was often touted as a possible future leader of Fianna Fáil. Martin himself has indicated his interest in becoming leader of the party and possibly Taoiseach someday if Bertie Ahern resigned in his own time. For a long time political commentators speculated that the next Fianna Fáil leadership race would be a contest between Martin and Brian Cowen. Other candidates in a future contest, however, may include Dermot Ahern, Mary Hanafin, Brian Lenihan, Jnr and Noel Dempsey. Cowen’s hand has been strengthened in recent times due to his appointment’s to the positions of deputy-leader of the party Minister for Finance and Tánaiste. Conversely, Martin’s tenure as Minister for Health was seen to do some damage to his political career, so much so that in Dáil political circles he was referred to as the "Former Future Taoiseach". In spite of this he remains a popular politician, receiving the highest number of first preference votes in the 2002 general election.
References
- ^ Martin spells his first name Micheál, that is without an acute accent, or síneadh fada over the i. The Irish language translation of the name Michael is usually spelt Mícheál, however Wikipedia should reflect how the subject spells his own name. From his website Micheál Martin TD, it is clear he spells it Micheál.
Sources
- Katie Hannon, The Naked Politician.
Political career
| Oireachtas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Batt O'Keeffe (Fianna Fáil) |
Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Cork South Central 1989 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach |
Minister for Education & Science 1997–2000 |
Succeeded by Michael Woods |
| Preceded by Brian Cowen |
Minister for Health & Children 2000–2004 |
Succeeded by Mary Harney |
| Preceded by Mary Harney |
Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
External links
- Micheál Martin's website
- Micheál Martin's page on the Fianna Fáil website
- Micheál Martin's electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)
- Profile of Martin's tenure as Minister for Health
This page incorporates information from the Oireachtas Members Database
