Darragh O'Brien (born 8 July 1974) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician who has served as

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An tAire Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The ...

since June 2020. He has been 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 Parl ...

(TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for the

Dublin North Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...

constituency. He previously served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Labour Panel from 2011 to 2016. His brother Eoghan O'Brien is a

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its aboli ...

lor, representing the

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and include ...

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

local electoral area.

Personal life

He was born and raised in

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, where he is an active member of St. Sylvesters GAA club,

Malahide United F.C. Malahide United F.C. are a football club from Malahide, Fingal county in Ireland. The club plays at Gannon Park. Malahide compete in the Leinster Senior League. History The club was established in 1944. However, it disbanded for a period befo ...

and Malahide Rugby Club. As a child, O'Brien attended Pope John Paul II National Catholic School and then Malahide Community School (Pobalscoil Íosa). He is one of six children. Before entering politics, he worked in the Pensions sector with Friends First Assurance Company. He lives in Malahide with his wife and daughter.

Political career

He was co-opted to a seat on

in March 2004. He was then elected to Fingal County Council on his own right at the 2004 local elections. O'Brien was first elected to

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 rea ...

at the 2007 general election. He was vice-chair of Public Accounts committee, Convenor on Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs during the

30th Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many soci ...

. He was also a member of Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. O'Brien was appointed to the Fianna Fáil frontbench as Spokesperson for Sport in January 2011. He lost his seat in the 2011 general election, being deemed not elected on the 7th and final count. He was nominated by the Taoiseach

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

to the

23rd Seanad This is a list of the members of the 23rd Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected from 24 July 2007 onwards after postal voting closed. The Taoiseach's nominees were announced on ...

on 3 March 2011. He was elected to the 24th Seanad as a Senator for the Labour Panel in April 2011. He was the Fianna Fáil Seanad leader and Spokesperson on Finance from 2011 to 2016. He returned to the Dáil at the general election in February 2016, winning a seat in the new Dublin Fingal constituency. He was the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government until his appointment as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in June 2020. O'Brien was re-elected at the general election in February 2020. As part of the

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

, O'Brien was appointed

by Taoiseach

Micheál Martin 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. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

on 27 June 2020. In his time as Minister for Housing, O’Brien presided over what has been described as the worst housing crisis in over 40 years, by Fr. Peter McVerry of the Peter McVerry trust, a national housing and homeless charity committed to reducing homelessness and the harm caused by substance misuse and social disadvantage. After a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against O'Brien four days prior, which was defeated, he was re-appointed to the same position following Leo Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach on 17 December 2022.

References

External links

*
Darragh O'Brien's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Darragh 1974 births Living people Fianna Fáil TDs Local councillors in Fingal Members of the 23rd Seanad Members of the 24th Seanad Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Fianna Fáil senators People from Malahide Alumni of Institute of Technology, Carlow