MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (IRELAND)

(Redirected from Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs)

The 'Minister for Foreign Affairs' () is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Irish Government. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin; ''"Iveagh House"'' is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.
The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Dermot Ahern, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State:

★ Michael Kitt, TD – Minister of State with special responsibility for Overseas Development and Human Rights;

★ Dick Roche, TD – Minister of State with special responsibility for European Affairs.
The Minister is one of the most important members of the Irish cabinet, with responsibility for the relations between the Republic of Ireland and foreign states. From 1922 until 1971 the title of the office was "Minister for External Affairs".

Contents

Overview

List of office-holders

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1919–1922

Minister for External Affairs 1922–1971

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1971–present

Footnotes

See also

External link

Overview

Within the department there are a number of divisions:

★ Finance Unit – Oversees the financial control of the department

★ Anglo-Irish Division – deals with Anglo-Irish relations and Northern Ireland.

★ Cultural Division – administers the state's Cultural Relations Programme.

★ European Union Division – coordinates the state's approach within the European Union (EU).

★ Passport and Consular Division – is responsible for the issuing of passports to Irish citizens.

★ Political Division – is responsible for international political issues and manages the state's participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.

★ Protocol Division – is responsible for the organisation and management of visits of VIPs to the state and of visits abroad by the Irish President.

List of office-holders

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1919–1922

#		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	Count Plunkett	January 22, 1919	August 26, 1921	Sinn Féin
	2.	Arthur Griffith[1] ''(1st time)''	August 26, 1921	January 9, 1922	Sinn Féin
	3.	George Gavan Duffy	January 10, 1922	July 25, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
		Arthur Griffith ''(2nd time)''	July 26, 1922	August 12, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
	4.	Michael Hayes	August 21, 1922	September 9, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin

Minister for External Affairs 1922–1971

#		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	5.	Desmond FitzGerald	August 30, 1922	June 23, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
	6.	Kevin O'Higgins	June 23, 1927	July 10, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
	7.	W.T. Cosgrave ''(acting)''	July 10, 1927	October 11, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
	8.	Patrick McGilligan	October 11, 1927	March 9, 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael
	9.	Éamon de Valera[2]	March 9, 1932	February 18, 1948	Fianna Fáil
	10.	Seán MacBride	February 18, 1948	June 13, 1951	Clann na Poblachta
	11.	Frank Aiken ''(1st time)''	June 13, 1951	June 2, 1954	Fianna Fáil
	12.	Liam Cosgrave	June 2, 1954	March 20, 1957	Fine Gael
		Frank Aiken ''(2nd time)''	March 20, 1957	July 2, 1969	Fianna Fáil
	13.	Patrick Hillery	July 2, 1969	March 3, 1971	Fianna Fáil

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1971–present

#		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Patrick Hillery	March 3, 1971	January 3, 1973	Fianna Fáil
	14.	Brian Lenihan ''(1st time)''	January 3, 1973	March 14, 1973	Fianna Fáil
	15.	Garret FitzGerald	March 14, 1973	July 5, 1977	Fine Gael
	16.	Michael O'Kennedy	July 5, 1977	December 11, 1979	Fianna Fáil
		Brian Lenihan ''(2nd time)''	December 12, 1979	June 30, 1981	Fianna Fáil
	17.	John Kelly[3]	June 30, 1981	October 21, 1981	Fine Gael
	18.	James Dooge	October 21, 1981	March 9, 1982	Fine Gael
	19.	Gerard Collins ''(1st time)''	March 9, 1982	December 14, 1982	Fianna Fáil
	20.	Peter Barry[4]	December 14, 1982	March 10, 1987	Fine Gael
		Brian Lenihan ''(3rd time)''	March 10, 1987	July 12, 1989	Fianna Fáil
		Gerard Collins ''(2nd time)''	July 12, 1989	February 11, 1992	Fianna Fáil
	21.	David Andrews ''(1st time)''	February 11, 1992	January 12, 1993	Fianna Fáil
	22.	Dick Spring ''(1st time)''	January 12, 1993	November 17, 1994	Labour Party
	23.	Albert Reynolds ''(acting)''	November 18, 1994	December 15, 1994	Fianna Fáil
		Dick Spring ''(2nd time)''	December 15, 1994	June 26, 1997	Labour Party
	24.	Ray Burke	June 26, 1997	October 7, 1997	Fianna Fáil
		David Andrews ''(2nd time)''	October 8, 1997	January 27, 2000	Fianna Fáil
	25.	Brian Cowen	January 27, 2000	September 29, 2004	Fianna Fáil
	26.	Dermot Ahern	September 29, 2004	''Incumbent''	Fianna Fáil

Footnotes

1. On the first occasion he held the foreign affairs portfolio, Arthur Griffith's official title was ''Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs''.
2. Éamon de Valera, who was head of government (President of the Executive Council until 1937, renamed Taoiseach in 1937) served as his own foreign minister.
3. When Garret FitzGerald formed a government in mid 1981 he announced that he would be appointing James Dooge to be a senator and once in office would make him minister. However as the appointment could not be made until Seanad Éireann's general election had taken place (which would be a few weeks), in the interim the Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism, John Kelly, would act as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
4. When the Labour Party withdrew from cabinet in early 1987, a new interim cabinet, made up simply of the outgoing Fine Gael ministers, was formed. Peter Barry continued on as Foreign Minister in that short-lived Fine Gael cabinet.

See also

★ Irish cabinets since 1919

External link

★ Department of Foreign Affairs