Micheál Martin

Martin was the son of Paddy Martin (1923–2012), a former soldier in the Defence Forces, CIÉ employee and Irish international boxer, and Eileen "Lana" Corbett (1929–2010).

He was the third child in a family of five.

Martin's eldest brother Seán and his twin brother Pádraig subsequently became involved in local politics in Cork.

His two younger sisters, Eileen and Máiréad, have remained apolitical.

Martin attended Coláiste Chríost Rí before studying arts at University College Cork.

It was during his time at university that Martin became involved in politics.

He was a prominent member of the UCC cumann of Ógra Fianna Fáil, the youth wing of the party, before serving as national chairman of Ógra.

After graduating with a BA degree, Martin completed an MA in political history.

Subsequently, he completed a higher diploma in education, and began a career as a history teacher in Presentation Brothers College.

Micheál Martin ( born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Defence since December 2022.

Martin was born in 1960 in Cork, and was raised in the Turners Cross area.

He was elected to Cork City Council in 1985, and served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1992 to 1993.

Martin's time as a teacher was short-lived: he left after just one year to become a full-time politician, when he secured election to Cork Corporation as a Fianna Fáil candidate in 1985.

It was from this local base that he decided to embark on a career in national politics a little under two years later.

Martin was one of four candidates who secured the Fianna Fáil nomination to run in the Cork South-Central constituency at the 1987 general election; however, of the four he polled the fewest first-preference votes and failed to be elected.

He became a member of the Fianna Fáil national executive in 1988.

He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-Central since 1989.

In 1989, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Cork South-Central, a seat he has represented ever since.

In 1989, Taoiseach Charles Haughey called a snap election, and Martin was once again added to the Fianna Fáil ticket in Cork South-Central, and on that occasion he secured election to Dáil Éireann.

He has been re-elected at each election since.

After the victory of Fianna Fáil at the 1997 election, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern appointed Martin to the Cabinet as Minister for Education and Science.

In 2000, Martin was appointed Minister for Health and Children.

In 2004, during his time as Health Minister, Martin was notable for introducing a ban on tobacco smoking in all Irish workplaces, making Ireland the first country in the world to introduce a full workplace smoking ban.

In the same year, Martin established the Health Service Executive.

He served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2004 to 2008, before being appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs by Ahern's successor, Brian Cowen.

In 2009, Martin became the first Irish foreign minister to travel to Latin America, during which time he also made the first official visit to Cuba by any Irish minister.

Martin also visited Khartoum during his time as Foreign Minister, following the kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki.

In 2009, he published his MA thesis as a book: Freedom to Choose: Cork and Party Politics in Ireland 1918–1932.

He served as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2020 and held various Cabinet offices under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.

Born in Cork, Martin initially worked as a teacher before entering politics.

In January 2011, Martin resigned as Foreign Minister in protest at Cowen's leadership.

Following Cowen's own resignation as Leader of Fianna Fáil, Martin was quickly elected to replace him.

Just weeks later, at the 2011 general election, Martin led Fianna Fáil to the worst result in its 85-year history, with a loss of 57 seats and a popular vote of just 17.4%.

He nevertheless remained in the leadership, becoming Leader of the Opposition.

At the 2016 general election, Fianna Fáil's performance improved significantly, more than doubling their representation in the Dáil, with Martin continuing as Leader of the Opposition.

He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011.

Martin led his party through the 2020 general election, which led to Fianna Fáil becoming the largest party in the Dáil by just one seat.

After lengthy negotiations, he was appointed Taoiseach on 27 June 2020, leading a grand coalition with longtime rival party Fine Gael, marking the first time these two parties had governed together, along with the Green Party.

Under the terms of the coalition agreement, Martin served as Taoiseach for the first half of the five-year term, with his predecessor Leo Varadkar as Tánaiste.

Martin then resigned as Taoiseach on 17 December 2022 to facilitate the appointment of Varadkar to the office.