Dara Murphy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dara Murphy (born 2 December 1969) is a former Irish
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
politician who served as a
Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
from 2014 to 2017 and
Lord Mayor of Cork The Lord Mayor of Cork ( ga, Ard-Mhéara Chathair Chorcaí) is the honorific title of the Chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach) of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork (city), Cork in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. ...
from 2009 to 2010. He served as a
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...
(TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency from 2011 to 2019. He resigned as a TD in December 2019 in the wake of a controversy about his lack of attendance in
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
, in order to take a full-time position in the administration of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.


Early and personal life

Murphy is from
Mayfield, Cork Mayfield, historically ''Ballinamought'' (),Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records). Retrieved: 201 ...
. After attending Christian Brothers College, he studied economics at
University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...
from 1988, but failed his final exams; he finally graduated in 2015 after completing the necessary modules remotely. He started several catering businesses, the first while still in college; these prospered until the
2008 recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
, when they folded, leaving him with tax debts which were settled in subsequent years.


Political career

Murphy was appointed to the
National Economic and Social Council The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) (Irish ''An Chomhairle Náisiúnta Eacnamaíoch Shóisialta'') is an independent body that advises the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) on areas of policy relating to social and economic development. ...
by the then
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of ...
in October 1996, serving until the end of 1997. He was elected to
Cork City Council Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, ...
in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, serving as Deputy Lord Mayor from 2005 to 2006 and Lord Mayor from 2009 to 2010. He also served as the first Chair of the Cork Joint Policing Committee. He was elected to the Dáil for Cork North-Central at the 2011 general election, vacating his seat in the Dáil. On 15 July 2014, on the nomination of
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...
, Murphy was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour coalition government as
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach. The position was first created ...
, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and at the Department of Justice and Equality, with special responsibility as
Minister of State for European Affairs The Minister of State for European Affairs is a Minister of State (Ireland), junior ministerial post at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Ireland wi ...
and for
data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
. On 19 May 2016, on the nomination of Taoiseach Enda Kenny, he was appointed by the Fine Gael–Independent minority government to the same positions, with additional responsibility for the EU
Digital Single Market On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, communicated the Digital Single Market strategy which intends to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross ...
, He was not appointed to ministerial position by
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...
when he became Taoiseach in June 2017. In October 2017, Murphy was appointed Campaign Director for the
European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
in the
2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
. In May 2018, Murphy announced that he intended to retire from
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
at the next general election. In November 2019, Murphy revealed that he was resigning as a TD at the end of 2019 to take up a senior position in the European Commission. However, this was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the expenses scandal, which saw him collect his Dáil Éireann expenses. From October 2017, Murphy was mainly based in Brussels where he worked with the European People's Party. During this period he drew his full Dáil salary of €94,500 and his full parliamentary standard allowances of €51,600 each year. Murphy had the lowest attendance rate in the Dáil on sitting days by a considerable margin during 2018 and 2019; attending on 42 days out of 104 in 2018, and 24 out of 70 until the end of September 2019. Murphy resigned as a TD on 3 December 2019.


Later career

In 2021, Murphy joined
Rasmussen Global Rasmussen Global (RG) is an international political consultancy firm, headquartered in Brussels and Copenhagen. The firm was founded by Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2014 following his term as NATO Secretary General. The company provides strategic ad ...
as a senior adviser.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Dara 1969 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Fine Gael TDs Local councillors in Cork (city) Lord Mayors of Cork Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil