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Joe McHugh

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 78.16.157.127 (talk) at 08:07, 9 August 2021 (→Dáil Éireann: Wikipedia article on Fullerton mentions his involvement in 'Irish Republicanism' in Birmingham, a euphemism for membership of an Irish terrorist gang.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about Irish politician. For the World Wrestling Federation announcer, see Joe McHugh (announcer).

Joe McHugh
TD
File:Joe McHugh TD.jpg
Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 September 2020
Preceded byMichael Healy-Rae
Minister for Education and Skills
In office
16 October 2018 – 27 June 2020
TaoiseachLeo Varadkar
Preceded byRichard Bruton
Succeeded byNorma Foley
Minister of State
2017–2018Government Chief Whip
2017–2018Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2016–2018Taoiseach
2016–2017Foreign Affairs and Trade
2014–2016Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2014–2016Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2016
ConstituencyDonegal
In office
May 2007 – February 2016
ConstituencyDonegal North-East
Senator
In office
12 September 2002 – 24 May 2007
ConstituencyAdministrative Panel
Personal details
Born
Joseph McHugh

(1971-07-16) 16 July 1971 (age 53)
Carrigart, County Donegal, Ireland
Political partyFine Gael
SpouseOlwyn Enright (m. 2005)
RelationsTom Enright (Father-in-law)
Children3
Alma materNUI, Maynooth
Websitedonegalmatters.com

Joe McHugh (born 16 July 1971) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs since September 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2016 for the Donegal North-East constituency. He served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2018 to 2020 and as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2018, including as Government Chief Whip from 2017 to 2018. He was a Senator for the Administrative Panel from 2002 and 2007.[1]

Early life

Born in Carrigart, County Donegal, in 1971. McHugh was educated at Umlagh National School and the Loreto Convent, Milford. He attended the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he received an honours degree in economics and sociology, and a higher diploma in education. A keen sportsman, McHugh has been a member of the Carrigart Boxing Club, has played soccer in the Donegal League with Cranford F.C. and Bonagee United F.C., and has also been a Gaelic footballer. McHugh taught geography and mathematics at the Loreto Convent Secondary School, Letterkenny, from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he taught A-level economics in Dubai, during which time he helped establish the first GAA club in the United Arab Emirates. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became a youth worker in the Ballyboe area of Letterkenny.[citation needed]

Political career

Donegal County Council

Brought into Fine Gael by Eddie McGinley from Kilmacrennan, McHugh won a seat in the Milford local electoral area on 11 June 1999. In 2001, he introduced a motion to establish a youth council for the county, which led to the formation of the Donegal Youth Council, the first democratically elected youth forum in Ireland. He also worked closely with Young Fine Gael, helping to establish the first branch in the county in March 2004. While a member of the council, he was appointed chairman of the cross-border body ERNACT (European Region Network for the Application of Communications Technology), where he made the provision of broadband in border areas a priority.[citation needed]

Seanad Éireann

He was elected to Seanad Éireann as a Senator for the Administrative Panel in 2002, where he served as Fine Gael Spokesperson on Community, Rural, Gaeltacht and Marine Affairs. McHugh set up a full-time constituency office in Letterkenny. When he was selected as the Dáil candidate for Donegal North-East, he moved into a new constituency office, which was officially opened by Fine Gael party leader Enda Kenny on 6 October 2006.[citation needed]

Dáil Éireann

McHugh topped the poll Donegal North-East at the 2007 general election with 22.6% of the first preference vote.[2] His wife Olwyn Enright also won re-election to the Dáil, making them the third married couple to sit in the same Dáil.[3] McHugh was appointed party deputy Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Taoiseach, with special responsibility for North-South Co-operation in October 2007. McHugh was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2011 general election, attaining 19.3% of the first-preference vote.

In January 2011, McHugh called for a monument, funded by the government, in Donegal, dedicated to the founding of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912.[4] McHugh was criticised by Eileen Doherty, a sister of Donegal County Councillor and Provisional IRA member Eddie Fullerton, who was assassinated by loyalists in 1991. Doherty claimed McHugh and other Fine Gael councillors in Donegal had snubbed a number of commemorative events and opposed the building of a monument in Fullerton's memory in Buncrana. Fullerton was the third elected official in the Republic of Ireland to be assassinated.[5]

In Manchester in October 2011, McHugh became the first Fine Gael TD to address delegates from the British Conservative Party. He described it as an "opportunity."[6]

On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources.[7][8][9] His appointment was met with criticism as his knowledge of the Irish language was at a basic level,[10][11] although he subsequently received praise for his efforts to improve his language skills to the point where he could conduct lengthy interviews in the language.[12] RTÉ Radio 1 produced the radio documentary Fine Gaeilgeoir, narrated and produced by Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh, following McHugh's efforts to improve his Irish over the course of a year.[13] Shane Ross later wrote of his fear of having what he described as a "Joe McHugh moment", meaning being a non-Irish speaker to a Gaeltacht ministry.[14]

In February 2016, McHugh was heavily criticised for allocating 93% of Gaeltacht grants to the Donegal Gaeltacht, which is located in and beside his constituency. This revelation led to calls for McHugh to appear before the Dáil Public Accounts Committee to explain such a disproportionate allocation of funding.[15] McHugh subsequently denied the claims.[16]

At the 2016 general election, McHugh was elected to the new five-seater Donegal constituency on the 11th count.[17]

The following May, he met Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during their day visit to the county.[18]

The couple's visit to Glenveagh National Park during the trip is accredited with driving up visitor numbers to record levels in 2017.

He was appointed as Minister for Education and Skills on 16 October 2018.[19] He was not re-appointed to the Government of the 33rd Dáil in June 2020, and declined the offer of appointment as a Minister of State.[20]

In September 2020, McHugh became Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs.

Personal life

In July 2005, McHugh married Olwyn Enright, who served as a Fine Gael TD for Laois–Offaly from 2002 to 2011. They have three children.[21][22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Joe McHugh". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Joe McHugh". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  3. ^ Michael O'Higgins and Brigid Hogan-O'Higgins both served in the 16th Dáil, 17th Dáil and 18th Dáil, and Alexis FitzGerald Jnr and Mary Flaherty both served as members in the 23rd Dáil.
  4. ^ "Deputy McHugh Leads Campaign to Mark 100th Anniversary of UVF". Donegal Today. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Sister of Murdered Councillor Writes Open Letter to Fine Gael Over Plans for Commemoration". Donegal Today. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Fine Gael TD to address Conservative conference". BBC News. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  7. ^ Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order (S.I. No. 40 of 2015). Signed on 3 February 2015. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2 April 2021.
  8. ^ Energy and Natural Resources (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order (S.I. No. 585 of 2014). Signed on 16 December 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014.
  10. ^ "New Gaeltacht affairs minister Joe McHugh books Irish language course". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Gerry Adams and Enda Kenny's 'as gaeilge' stand off over Joe McHugh's Irish". The Journal. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  12. ^ ""An incredible inspiration": Gaeltacht minister Joe McHugh on learning Irish from a New Yorker". The Journal. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Fine Gaeilgeoir". RTÉ. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  14. ^ Ross, Shane (8 May 2016). "Finally face to face with those who suffered my most fierce criticism". Sunday Independent.
  15. ^ "Gaeltacht minister 'should explain' allocation of grants". RTÉ News. 11 February 2016.
  16. ^ Siggins, Lorna (8 April 2016). "Joe McHugh defends approving theatre grant against advice". The Irish Times.
  17. ^ Moriarty, Gerry (28 February 2016). "Donegal count: Independent Thomas Pringle takes final seat". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  18. ^ Prince Charles and Duchess begin Donegal visit
  19. ^ Fitzgerald, Martina (13 October 2018). "Bruton named Minister for Communications, McHugh named Minister for Education". RTÉ News.
  20. ^ "Joe McHugh turns down junior ministerial role". Irish Examiner. 1 July 2020.
  21. ^ Sheahan, Fionnan (3 November 2009). "FG's Olwyn celebrates baby with TD husband". Irish Independent.
  22. ^ "Fine Gael couple's joy at birth of second child". Irish Independent. 16 December 2010.
  23. ^ "Joe McHugh - Fine Gael". Fine Gael. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
Oireachtas
Preceded by Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Donegal North-East
2007–2016 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by
New constituency
 Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Donegal
2016–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs
2020–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of State for Natural Resources
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs
2014–2016
Preceded by Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Development
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Government Chief Whip
2017–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Gaeilge, the Gaeltacht and the Islands
2017–2018
Preceded by Minister for Education and Skills
2018–2020 		Succeeded by
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