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Joe McHugh
McHugh in 2017
Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs
In office 15 September 2020 – 8 November 2024
Preceded by	Michael Healy-Rae
Minister for Education and Skills
In office 16 October 2018 – 27 June 2020
Taoiseach	Leo Varadkar
Preceded by	Richard Bruton
Succeeded by	Norma Foley
Minister of State
2017–2018	Government Chief Whip
2017–2018	Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2016–2018	Taoiseach
2016–2017	Foreign Affairs and Trade
2014–2016	Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2014–2016	Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Teachta Dála
In office February 2016 – November 2024
Constituency	Donegal
In office May 2007 – February 2016
Constituency	Donegal North-East
Senator
In office 12 September 2002 – 24 May 2007
Constituency	Administrative Panel
Personal details
Born	(1971-07-16) 16 July 1971 (age 53) Carrigart, County Donegal, Ireland
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Fine Gael (until 2022)
Spouse	Olwyn Enright ​(m. 2005)​
Children	3
Relatives	Tom Enright (father-in-law)
Alma mater	NUI, Maynooth

Joe McHugh (born 16 July 1971) is an Irish former politician from Carrigart, County Donegal. A Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal North-East constituency from 2007 to 2016 and the Donegal constituency from 2016 to 2024, he served as Minister of State from 2014 to 2018, including as Government Chief Whip from 2017 to 2018. He served as Minister for Education and Skills from October 2018 until June 2020. He chaired the Committee on European Union Affairs from 2020 to 2024.

Before entering politics, McHugh was a secondary school teacher and youth worker. He began his political career on Donegal County Council, where he served from 1999 to 2002. Elected to Seanad Éireann in 2002 as a senator for the Administrative Panel, he first won election to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election. In 2014, his appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources attracted criticism due to his basic knowledge of the Irish language. Subsequently, RTÉ Radio 1 produced a radio documentary, Fine Gaeilgeoir, following McHugh's efforts to improve his language skills.

A member of Fine Gael until July 2022, McHugh resigned the party whip to vote for an opposition bill on the defective block crisis, after which he continued in the Dáil as an independent TD. He did not contest the 2024 general election, stating he was leaving politics to spend more time with his family.

Early life

Born in Carrigart, County Donegal, McHugh was educated at Umlagh National School and Loreto Community School, Milford. He attended Maynooth University, where he received an honours degree in economics and sociology and a higher diploma in education. He taught geography and mathematics at Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he taught A-level economics in Dubai. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became a youth worker in the Ballyboe area of Letterkenny.

Political career

Donegal County Council

McHugh won a seat in the Milford local electoral area in the 1999 Donegal County Council election.

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.

Dáil Éireann

McHugh topped the poll Donegal North-East at the 2007 general election with 22.6% of the first preference vote. His wife Olwyn Enright also won re-election to the Dáil, making them the third married couple to sit in the same Dáil. 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. 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.

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."

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. His appointment was met with criticism as his knowledge of the Irish language was at a basic level, 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. 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. 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.

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. McHugh subsequently denied the claims.

At the 2016 general election, McHugh was elected to the new five-seater Donegal constituency on the 11th count. The following May, he met Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during their day visit to the county.

He was appointed as Minister for Education and Skills on 16 October 2018. 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. In September 2020, McHugh became Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs.

In May 2022, McHugh announced that he would not contest the next general election. On 6 July 2022, he resigned the Fine Gael party whip in order to vote for an opposition bill regarding the defective block crisis. Following McHugh's retirement from politics at the 2024 general election, Fine Gael ran two candidates in the Donegal constituency—Senator Nikki Bradley and John McNulty—but neither won election, marking the first time since the 1930s that Fine Gael did not win a seat in Donegal.

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.

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas

References

1. ^ "Donegal TD Joe McHugh won't contest next general election". RTÉ News. 4 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
2. ^ Hosford, Paul (4 May 2022). "Fine Gael TD and former education minister Joe McHugh won't stand for re-election". Irish Examiner. Cork. ISSN 1393-9564. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
3. Moore, Jane (4 May 2022). "Former Education Minister Joe McHugh will not stand in next general election". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
4. "Joe McHugh". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
5. 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.
6. "Deputy McHugh Leads Campaign to Mark 100th Anniversary of UVF". Donegal Today. 9 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
7. "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.
8. "Fine Gael TD to address Conservative conference". BBC News. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
9. Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2015 (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.
10. Energy and Natural Resources (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2014 (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.
11. "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
12. "New Gaeltacht affairs minister Joe McHugh books Irish language course". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
13. "Gerry Adams and Enda Kenny's 'as gaeilge' stand off over Joe McHugh's Irish". The Journal. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
14. ""An incredible inspiration": Gaeltacht minister Joe McHugh on learning Irish from a New Yorker". The Journal. 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
15. "Fine Gaeilgeoir". RTÉ. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
16. Ross, Shane (8 May 2016). "Finally face to face with those who suffered my most fierce criticism". Sunday Independent. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
17. "Gaeltacht minister 'should explain' allocation of grants". RTÉ News. 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
18. Siggins, Lorna (8 April 2016). "Joe McHugh defends approving theatre grant against advice". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
19. Moriarty, Gerry (28 February 2016). "Donegal count: Independent Thomas Pringle takes final seat". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
20. "Prince Charles and Duchess begin Donegal visit". 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
21. Fitzgerald, Martina (13 October 2018). "Bruton named Minister for Communications, McHugh named Minister for Education". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
22. "Joe McHugh turns down junior ministerial role". Irish Examiner. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
23. McLaughlin, Rachel (6 July 2022). "Joe McHugh resigns party whip as mica scheme passed by Dáil". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
24. Ryan, Emma (1 December 2024). "'In certain parts, we need to start again' – Senator Nikki Bradley reacts as Fine Gael loses seat in Donegal". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
25. Sheahan, Fionnan (3 November 2009). "FG's Olwyn celebrates baby with TD husband". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
26. "Fine Gael couple's joy at birth of second child". Irish Independent. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
27. "Joe McHugh - Fine Gael". Fine Gael. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

• 1971 births
• Living people
• Alumni of Maynooth University
• Fine Gael TDs
• Fine Gael senators
• Irish schoolteachers
• Members of Donegal County Council
• Members of the 22nd Seanad
• Members of the 30th Dáil
• Members of the 31st Dáil
• Members of the 32nd Dáil
• Members of the 33rd Dáil
• Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil
• Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil
• Politicians from County Donegal
• Spouses of Irish politicians
• Donegal Gaelic footballers
• Ministers for education of Ireland
• Government Chief Whip (Ireland)
• Administrative Panel senators
• Fine Gael local councillors
• Independent TDs