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ALL 23 JUNIOR Ministers have been named by Government.
This government has the highest number of junior ministers in the history of the State, they are also set to be the best paid junior ministers we have ever had.
Three of the juniors – Colm Brophy, Timmy Dooley and Marian Harkin – will not officially be junior ministers until legislation is amended to allow the number of junior ministers rise from 20 to 23.
The record number of positions are filled by 10 Fianna Fáil TDs, eight Fine Gael TDs and five Independents.
Only six of the 23 are women.
The positions were confirmed by Cabinet when it met this afternoon. Four of the 23 are super junior ministers (these four were confirmed last week) and will sit at the weekly Cabinet meetings.
Yesterday, Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly launched legal action against the Government over whether the attendance of ‘super junior’ ministers at Cabinet is unconstitutional.
Here is the full list of who is who.
Niamh Smyth
The Cavan-Monaghan TD was chair of the Oireachtas Media Committee throughout the RTÉ crisis. Some had tipped her to become the Minister for Media as a result, but today she enters the junior ministerial ranks as a minister of state in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
She has special responsibility for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation.
Jennifer Murnane O’Connor
The Carlow-Kilkenny TD has been appointed junior minister in the Department of Health with responsibility for public health, wellbeing and national drugs strategy.
Niall Collins
Collins has been appointed a junior minister in the Department of Justice with special responsibility for international law, law reform and youth justice.
Robert Troy
The Longford-Westmeath TD is making a comeback to the frontbench following his resignation, resulting from his failure to declare property interests, as a minister of state in 2022.
He has been appointed junior minister with responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance in the Department of Finance.
Michael Moynihan
The Cork North-West TD has been appointed minister of state at the Department of Education with special responsibility for special education and inclusion.
Timmy Dooley
Clare TD Dooley will be a minister of state at the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for fisheries.
He will also hold a junior ministry in the Department of the Environment with responsibility for the marine.
Charlie McConalogue
The former Agriculture Minister and Donegal TD has been appointed junior minister in the Department of Tourism and Media with special responsibility for sport and postal policy.
Thomas Byrne
Byrne, a TD for Meath East, is now junior minister in the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Defence with special responsibility for European Affairs and Defence.
Christopher O’Sullivan
The Cork South-West TD is now a junior minister in the Department of Housing and Local Government with special responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity.
Kieran O’Donnell
O’Donnell has been appointed minister of state at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Older People.
He has also been appointed a minister of state in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for Housing.
Colm Brophy
The Dublin South West TD will be minister of state for migration within the Department of Justice.
Jerry Buttimer
Buttimer, a former senator, has been given special responsibility for Community Development, Charities, Gaeltacht and the Islands within the Department of Rural and Community Development and special responsibility for Rural Transport within the Department of Transport.
John Cummins
The former senator and first-time TD for Waterford was one of Fine Gael’s negotiators in the recent government formation talks.
He has been given special responsibility for local government and planning within the Department of Housing and Local Government.
Emer Higgins
Higgins, a Dublin Mid West TD, has been appointed minister of state at the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement, Digitalisation and eGovernment.
Neale Richmond
Richmond has been appointed a minister of state in the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for international development and diaspora.
Alan Dillon
Dillon has been appointed junior minister in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for small businesses and retail.
He has also been appointed a junior minister in the Department of the Enrivonment, Climate and Communications with special responsibility for the circular economy.
Kerry’s Micheal Healy-Rae is now a junior minister in the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture.
Marian Harkin
Harkin, a TD for Sligo-Leitrim, will be a junior minister in the Department of Higher Education with responsibility for further education, apprenticeship, construction and climate skills.
Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran
‘Boxer’ Moran will be a junior minister with responsibility for the Office of Public Works within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
He previously held this position from 2017-2020.
Noel Grealish
The Independent TD for Galway West has responsibility for food promotion, new markets, research and development within the Department of Agriculture.
Seán Canney
The Independent TD for Galway West has responsibility for international and road transport, rail and ports within the Department of Transport.
Hildegarde Naughton
The Fine Gael TD for Galway West has responsibility for disability.
Mary Butler
The Fianna Fáil Waterford TD is the Government Chief Whip and also has special responsibility for mental health.
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The first casualty of war is innocence. This is turning into a yugoslavian type war. Im concerned that the whole region will be destabilised & Europe will look on with indifference like it did in yugoslavia. Its a desperate situation. The EU with all its power is a toothless entity. The Russians could march to Dunkirk before anything would be done.
Have to agree with you. Probably not Dunkirk but probably Poland
We can sit here and comment on what the reasons are for this conflict and point the finger at world leaders for not doing enough, but the truth is both sides are suffering. Both sides are guilty of atrocities. But the innocent victims are the ones that pay high price and all the big players don’t give a damn
Germany and Europe have a lot to answer for.
They started this war pushing the people to overthrow an elected president.
terrorism sponsored by Europe to antagonise Russia
Bullsh*t. If you think Russia is a beacon of democracy go there on holidays & open your eyes.
I’ve been to Russia.
Democracy ! We don’t have it here in ireland ir Europe.
Europe lead by Germany for big business at the expense of its citizens
Mjhint
Russia is a great place to visit or live, you should try it sometime.
Have you gary me too. I worked there. Its people live in fear & law & order is dished out by thugs & henchmen. Theres a lot wrong with Europe on every level but its utopia compared to Russia. If you are suggesting that Russia is as good as Europe then you must be a member if the Russian mafia. Its a country run by a paranoid sociopathic credulous cretin.
Seriously you do know there is other sources of news than Sky news?
You are correct. Im rarely in one place at any time as im constantly travelling with my job. Its the bbc world service for me & I know a lot of Russian people who tell me what its like in Russia.
I think it’s cute. The Jewish traveller trolls here and the pro putin idiots fall for it :)
Anything anti west I suppose.
You’re right, it’s great place to visit
- (myself, I’ve been in Murmansk, Pertozavodsk & more).
BUT a terrible place to live
- if you like things like a free press, rule or law & the balances of democracy.
Apologising for Putinism is an *insult* to Russians who want what you’ve got.
They have one big advantage, freedom and democracy. What went wrong in Europe and America ?
Are you seriously suggesting there is freedom & democracy in Russia?!?
- Even those who love Putin laugh at that idea.
- They admit that they prefer less freedom & less democracy, in favour of their “strong leader”.
They choose to infantalise themselves & give-up their responsibilities to another.
A contemptible position.
You guys are deluded if you think Russia is a beacon of democracy I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw as the saying goes. Ask the citizens of the country’s they occupied during the Second World War and during Cold War.
If you go back in History and look how bad the Russians treated the Ukrainians, then you can kind of understand the hatred the Ukrainians have for the Russians and just due to that fact it’s not very hard for anybody to instigate a fight.
Well this is true. I remember having dinner in Dublin on evening 7 years or do age with these very lovely Ukrainians grandparents. I asked him thoughts on russia and they hate them for starving the people of Ukraine for raping their resources and for comdeming Ukraine to soviet poverty.
Russia is like a plague. They just consume and leave a trail of deviation
I might get stick for saying this but may god forgive the Russians and the Ukranians for what the deeds that are unfolding..
To be far their is animals on both sides. The Ukrainian military has been turning blind eye to the neo nazi paramilitaries they are equipping. Part of me sees why. I guess they are willing to fight and the bigger issue is russia.
The Russians on the other hand have invaded. Indiscriminate shelling of residential areas including schools and hospitals and “disappearing” anyone loyal to the democratic government in Kiev. There is a genocide going on by those rebels and possibly the Russian military. If they are not directly involved they are watching it and helping.
Ukraine is a mess and not everyone there is a good guy but they are sovereign they have been invaded. Families that beg for the life we have are being slaughtered. Europe needs to step up here. The UK and France came to polands aid against Germany. Germany now needs to remember it’s payback time to humanity and go with supplying defensive arms to Ukraine.
Once too many Russians go home in body bags they can’t hide it from their families as training accidents for very long. Russians want the life we lead too. Afraid to rise up.
Very informative clip. Evidently a big percentage of the troops trapped in the caldron are Western mercenaries, ‘blackwater’ types. And they’re in a position where they’ll either surrender or get wiped out trying to escape. could end up being very embarrassing to the ‘peace-seeking’ West.
Last 3 minutes worth looking at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IcwOYEasuE
See also :
The Western Holocausting of Ukraine
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_ukraine/2015/02/17/3565
It’s putins load
Pat O’Dywer, yer man that does those YouTube videos 108morris108 is a head the ball. The only thing he’s missing from those videos is little green men and an endless supply of shiny tinfoil to keep him entertained.
Please don’t fill the comments with the absolute waffle of a paranoid schizophrenic.
Pat – please, you must try harder.
Don’t say a “BIG percentage”.
Use your usual terminology … like “some evidence of” or “increasing reports of”.
Perhaps then you’ll persuade people will believe your nonsense.
OK, first of all, the guy in that video is spouting nonsense in half of it. Secondly, in his haste to get his unresearched viewpoints across, he continuously trips over his own words. Thirdly, he has provided absolutely no evidence that he even researched his information, never mind provided any evidence for his claims.
As for the second link, well the following sentence sums things up pretty well: “Russia had invested 100 billion in subsidies that had kept the kleptocratic government on Russia’s eastern border afloat.” In other words, Russia was propping up a regime that it knew was stealing from its own people. Now, that to me sounds like Russia was meddling already for quite some time and doing so to the detriment of Ukraine’s civilian population.
“German Intelligence…stated the real death figures…were in the 50,000 range”. It’s strange that in all of the Russian- and Iranian-aligned media outlets reporting this (I’m have yet to find a non-partisan or Western media outlet reporting on this), that not one of them has reported the name of the German intelligence agency that stated that figure, as there is a lot more than one German intelligence agency.
“Several members of the looting Oligarchy have fled to Israel, where they pay the customary 1-million dollar bribe for citizenship and gain Israel’s promise of extradition protection and asset seizure.” If this were true then the article would have been able to name at least one oligarch, but it can’t. Now it is quite possible that this is happening, but the fact the article can’t mention one single name suggests the piece was written based on hearsay, and not on actual research and gathering evidence.
more of Putins POV from Comerade Pat our local FSB operative
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