ieExplains: Who’s who? Here are the ministers in the new Cabinet
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin at Radisson Hotel, Dublin during the Fianna Fail ard fheis conference after his party by 812 votes to 62 to ratify the draft the Programme for Government. Picture date: Sunday January 19, 2025.
New Taoiseach Micheál Martin has named the new Cabinet.
Of the 15 ministers and four super-junior ministers, four are from Munster, four are from Connacht, and the rest are from Leinster, with the majority of these posts concentrated around the greater Dublin area. There are no ministers or ministers of state from Ulster.
Just five Cabinet attendees are women, and just three senior ministers are female, down four from the previous cabinet.
Here's who the new ministers are:
64
Cork South-Central
A qualified teacher who was first elected to the Dáil in 1989, Mr Martin served in Government for 14 years under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen between 1997 and 2011 in the departments of Education, Health, Enterprise and Foreign Affairs.
Elected leader of Fianna Fáil following the resignation of Brian Cowen in early 2011 he looked for a time like he may become the first leader of the party to not become Taoiseach. However, a coalition with Fine Gael saw him become leader of the country in June 2020, before becoming Tánaiste in December 2022.
Married to Mary, he is father to Micheál Áodh, Cillian and Aoibhe.
38
Wicklow
While Mr Harris had long been tipped as a potential Taoiseach, he was perhaps not expecting the chance to arise last March.
Having marshalled the early days of the pandemic in the Department of Health, he moved to the newly-established Department of Further Education in 2020.
There, he was seen to have performed well and was well-received by students and the sector. Having ascended to the Taoiseach's office, he led Fine Gael through a successful local election campaign, but momentum stalled in the general election and he returns to the Cabinet table as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
He will become Taoiseach once more in November 2027.
50
Dublin Central
Fine Gael’s money man, Paschal Donohoe has been a familiar face around the Cabinet table for almost a decade after he took his first senior ministry in mid-2014.
The Phibsborough man has been a long-standing Fine Gael TD, having first been elected to the Dáil in 2011. He was a senator and Dublin city councillor previously.
He has been chair of the powerful Eurogroup of Finance Ministers since 2020, having been elected for two consecutive terms.
Mr Donohoe will be responsible for shepherding Ireland’s economy in the years ahead, particularly in the midst of a turbulent Trump presidency.
34
Dublin West
The youngest Finance Minister since Michael Collins, Mr Chambers is set to make the short move across the hall to the Department of Public Expenditure.
First elected in 2016, Mr Chambers rose rapidly through the ranks of Fianna Fáil, becoming a super junior minister in 2020 and then was appointed to a senior position last June.
He is seen as the surefire successor to Micheál Martin, with many in the party believing he is best-placed to take control of the party when Mr Martin decides to stand down.
57
Dublin Bay South
Passed over in 2020 despite having been seen as a cert for a Cabinet post, Mr O'Callaghan subsequently rejected the offer of a junior ministry and positioned himself as a potential challenger for Mr Martin's role as party leader.
That never gained momentum, though Mr O'Callaghan would become the party's spokesperson on justice. His contributions during the general election campaign were seen as having wrested the issue from Fine Gael for his party.
A barrister and senior counsel, he played rugby for UCD, Cambridge University, London Irish, Wanderers, Leinster and Connacht at senior level. He also represented Ireland at under-21 level.
44
Dún Laoighaire
A rising star in Fine Gael, her elevation to the Dáil came unexpectedly in 2020 after Maria Bailey found herself removed from the Fine Gael ticket over ‘Swinggate’.
Ms Carroll MacNeill was the replacement, where she came in on the eighth count. Despite only being a first-time TD in the last Dáil, she was rapidly elevated up the government ranks and became a junior minister in the Department of Finance in 2022 when Leo Varadkar returned as Taoiseach.
Simon Harris appointed her to the important role of Minister of State for European Affairs in 2024 and even had her walk into the Dáil chamber with the Cabinet. She has said she wants to lead the party but will need to get to grips with her Cabinet portfolio first.
49
Wexford
A third-generation Fianna Fáil TD, with both his father and grandfather having served in the Dáil before him.
Mr Browne has experience in government, having served as a junior justice minister for four years, shepherding through significant legislation on gambling.
The Wexford TD had initially been tipped for the Justice portfolio, given his legal background, but now moves into the Department of Housing — easily the biggest job of any minister in Government.
Having been a key player in the 2024 government negotiations, Mr Browne must now grapple with the acute housing crisis across the country.
50
Dublin Fingal East
First elected to Fingal County Council in 2004, Mr O'Brien became a TD three years later. Having lost his seat in 2011, he was elected to the Seanad, where he stayed until being re-elected to the Dáil in 2016.
He served as the party's housing spokesman and was tapped to fill that ministerial role by Micheál Martin in 2020. His signature Housing For All policy has been the government's flagship, but is set to be significantly overhauled with new targets.
He was part of the Fianna Fáil negotiating team and is seen as a potential future leader.
In a surprise move, Mr Martin moved Mr O'Brien from Housing to Transport and Environment.
38
Meath East
Broke barriers by becoming the first minister ever to take maternity leave and had been hugely regarded for her work in the Department of Justice in the first half of the last government.
However, a backlash against proposed hate speech laws and the Dublin riots saw her become a lightning rod for external criticism. She was tipped as a potential successor to Leo Varadkar as party leader, but the timing of his departure meant Ms McEntee was swift to rule herself out of the running.
She is still young and her performance in the programme for government negotiations was widely praised.
48
Kildare North
A TD since 2016, Mr Lawless had previously served on Kildare County Council before entering Leinster House. He is a qualified barrister, while also holding qualifications in the area of computer science.
Mr Lawless was previously appointed by his party to lead a review of the aims and objectives of Fianna Fáil, which was completed in 2022.
While a backbencher, he had a somewhat high profile due to his role as the chair of the Dáil’s Justice Committee.
Seen as a Micheál Martin loyalist, the Kildare man is now on the up to Cabinet, despite only being among the junior ranks for six months prior.
Age: 42
Constituency: Longford-Westmeath
The first Cabinet minister from Mullingar, Peter Burke finds himself back in the inner circle after initially being appointed by Simon Harris in early 2024.
The Westmeath man is seen as an able communicator, often being sent out for Fine Gael in difficult circumstances.
A chartered accountant, Mr Burke cut his teeth in the Dáil’s powerful Public Accounts Committee after he was first elected in 2016. He did catch some controversy in the general election, however, with Michael O’Leary’s criticism of teachers happening during his candidacy launch.
55
Kerry
The Kerry TD was a surprise appointment to Cabinet in 2020, having only been elected as a first-time TD, but her return in 2025 was a sure thing from the very beginning.
A former schoolteacher and long-time county councillor in Kerry, Ms Foley was responsible for the Department of Education during the covid-19 pandemic and had to deal with issues around reopening and calculated grades.
Daughter of a former Fianna Fáil TD, Ms Foley is seen as a close ally of Micheál Martin, having initially proposed him to be Taoiseach in 2020.
51
Mayo
The Mayo TD is returning to a senior ministerial position, after working his way back up through the junior benches in recent years.
The third-generation TD is a popular figure around Leinster House, with that being felt across all parties and not just his own. Mr Calleary is also a former deputy leader of Fianna Fáil.
He has paid his penance for his involvement in the infamous Golfgate controversy, and while had served at Cabinet as a super junior in recent months, will now have full control of a department.
46
Kildare South
Mr Heydon is reaping the rewards of putting in the hard yards as a member of the government formation negotiating team with a promotion to a senior ministry.
The Kildare man was Minister for State for Agriculture in the last government and previously chaired Fine Gael's internal agriculture committee for five years.
News of his appointment as minister will be welcomed in his local area, which has not had a senior minister in over 20 years.
A farmer all his life, Mr Heydon is well-suited to his new position but will no doubt face a number of challenges, not least the looming Mercosur trade deal.
47
Limerick County
After eight years of holding a number of junior minister roles, Mr O'Donovan was promoted to Minister for Further and Higher Education when Simon Harris became Taoiseach last year.
Later in 2024, Mr O'Donovan found himself caught up in the bike shed and security hut controversies, having served as minister of state with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW).
He escaped reasonably unscathed and having performed well in Mr Harris' previous role in further education, Mr O'Donovan will keep his seat at the cabinet table.
This new role will be one Mr O'Donovan will be eager to sink his teeth into, having been quite vocal during the recent RTÉ controversy.
58
Waterford
A vice-president of Fianna Fáil, Ms Butler is a three-time TD but this will be her first stint at the Cabinet table.
She was one of the key negotiators of the programme for government and has already served as a junior minister in the previous coalition — with responsibility for mental health and older people.
First elected to council level in 2014, Ms Butler was also a small business owner, having run her family’s grocery shop in Portlaw for 17 years.
59
Galway West
A long-serving TD for Galway West, Noel Grealish is the former and final leader of the Progressive Democrats before the party formally dissolved itself in 2009.
First elected to the Dáil in 2002, Mr Grealish has been a constant in Leinster House and will now move up to Cabinet level as a super junior minister in the new coalition.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, with Mr Grealish courting controversy in 2019 after he described African asylum seekers as “spongers”, which was widely condemned in the Dáil.
47
Galway West
Having served as the Government chief whip in the last Dáil term, Ms Naughton will now sit as one of the four super junior ministers.
The Galway TD has been a minister of state since 2020 in the areas of transport, justice, health, environment and education.
Before being elected to the Dáil, Ms Naughton was a taoiseach's nominee for the Seanad, where she sat as a senator for three years.
Back in 2016, Ms Naughton was forced to resign from her role on the Dáil committee investigating complaints about members who voted on behalf of colleagues when it was found she had done so herself on several occasions.
64
Galway East
A former chartered quantity surveyor and lecturer at GMIT, he was elected to Galway County Council in 2004, where he served as mayor in 2007-08.
A father of three, he was a member of the council’s planning and economic development committee, vice-chairman of the inter-county rail committee and a former assistant secretary of Corofin GAA club.
In 2016, he was elected to the Dáil as a member of the Independent Alliance. He went on to become junior minister at the OPW before leaving the Independent Alliance in 2018, but returned to junior ministerial ranks in the Departments of Communications and Rural and Community Development.
Rossa Fanning SC has been appointed Attorney General to the Government.
