Micheál Martin

Micheál Martin (2020)

Micheál Martin ( Irish Mícheál Ó Máirtín ; born August 1, 1960 in Cork ) is an Irish politician and since January 2011 chairman of Fianna Fáil . From May 2008 to January 2011 he was his country's foreign minister . He has been the Prime Minister of Ireland since June 27, 2020 . He heads the Martin government .

Career

Martin was born in 1960 to Paddy and Laura Martin in a suburb of Cork. His father was a former international boxer. Martin graduated from University College Cork . Then he worked as a teacher.

In 1985 he was first elected to the Cork City Council. 1992 to 1993 he held the office of Lord Mayor of Cork there . Previously, Martin was elected in 1989 in the constituency of Cork South-Central for the Fianna Fáil in the Dáil Éireann , the lower house of the Irish Parliament . In the following elections up to and including 2011, he was able to defend his mandate in this constituency and in 1997, when his party's re-election to power, he became Minister of Education in Bertie Ahern's cabinet . He held this office until January 27, 2000, when he replaced Brian Cowen as Minister of Health. This in turn became foreign minister in place of the resigned David Andrews .

As Health Minister (from 2002 Minister for Health and Children ), Martin campaigned for a smoking ban in Ireland and made Ireland the first country to introduce a smoking ban. Since April 1, 2004, there has been a general ban on smoking in closed public spaces and to protect workers at all workplaces, including all pubs and restaurants. The acceptance of the smoking ban is very high in Ireland and accordingly Martin was very popular as Minister of Health. For his commitment, he received various awards and prizes, for example the gold medal of the European Society of Cardiology , which he was the first Irishman to receive. In September 2004 Martin was appointed Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment . He stayed that way until May 2008 when he became Secretary of State in Brian Cowen's cabinet.

In early January 2011 there was a vote of confidence in the Irish Parliament on Prime Minister Brian Cowen's policies , which he survived. Martin, the greatest inner-party critic of Cowen, also demanded that Cowen resign from his post as party leader of the Fianna Fáil. When Cowen refused, Martin resigned as Irish Foreign Minister on January 18, 2011. After Cowen's resignation as party chairman, Martin was elected eighth chairman of Fianna Fáil on January 26, 2011.

After the elections for Dáil Éireann on February 8, 2020 , a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party was formed . The coalition agreement stipulates that Martin will initially hold the office of Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) for 30 months and then hand over to Leo Varadkar (Fine Gael). On June 27, 2020, he was elected Taoiseach with the votes of the coalition parties.

In his youth, Martin belonged to the Ógra Fianna Fáil, the youth organization of his party, and was also its chairman.

Martin is married and has three grown children, two sons and a daughter. Another daughter, who suffered from severe heart disease, died in October 2010 at the age of seven, and another son died shortly after giving birth in 2000.

Web links

Commons : Micheál Martin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Biography on the Fianna Fáil website
• Entry on the side of the Oireachtas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cowen Wins - and Loses his Secretary of State , ntv, January 18, 2011.
2. ↑ Micheál Martin elected as eighth leader of Fianna Fáil , The Irish Times , January 26, 2011.
3. ↑ Micheál Martin to become taoiseach after parties back deal. BBC News, June 27, 2020, accessed June 27, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Martin elected Irish head of government. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved June 27, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Micheál Martin's daughter dies in London. The Irish Times, October 30, 2010, accessed June 27, 2020 .