Fergus O'Dowd (born 1 September 1948) is an 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 � ...

politician who 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 Parli ...

(TD) for the

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

constituency since the 2002 general election. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in September 2020. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport from 2017 to 2020 and 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 ...

from 2011 to 2014.Government economic stimulus plan

Early life

O'Dowd was born in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arc ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

, in 1948. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Drogheda, County Louth.

Political career

He was first elected to Drogheda Town Council in 1974 as a member of the Labour Party, and was elected to

Louth County Council Louth County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Lú) is the authority responsible for local government in County Louth, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and c ...

in 1979, serving on the county council until 2003. He contested the 1977 general election as a Labour Party candidate, but was not elected. In 1982, O'Dowd left the Labour Party and joined Fine Gael. He served three terms as Chairman of Drogheda Town Council: 1977–78, 1981–82 and 1994–95. A teacher before entering politics, O'Dowd was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

as a Senator for the

Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Administrative Panel elects seven senators. Election ...

in 1997. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election, on his fourth attempt. He was immediately appointed Fine Gael spokesperson for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. He was party Spokesperson on Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2004 to 2007, and on Transport and Marine from 2007 to 2010. In June 2010, he supported

Richard Bruton Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North since 2016, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He is the Chairman of th ...

's leadership challenge to

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 ...

. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, O'Dowd was appointed as party Spokesperson on Education and Skills. On 10 March 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with special responsibility for the NewEra Project. He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014.

Personal life

O'Dowd lives in Drogheda and is married to Agnes O'Dowd; they have three sons. He is a brother of

Niall O'Dowd Niall O'Dowd (born 18 May 1953) in County Tipperary, Ireland, is an Irish American journalist and author living in the United States. He was involved in the negotiations leading to the Northern Irish Good Friday Peace Agreement. He is founder ...

, publisher of the ''

Irish Voice The ''Irish Voice'' is a newspaper published in New York City, New York. It focuses on news and stories from an Irish-American perspective. The paper was first published in the fall of 1987 and was targeted at new Irish immigrants who were movin ...

'' newspaper in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Another brother, Michael O'Dowd, stood against him for

Renua Renua Ireland, commonly called Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton as founding leader. Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ireland. Th ...

at the 2016 general election.

References

External links

Fergus O'Dowd's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odowd, Fergus 1948 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Irish schoolteachers Local councillors in County Louth Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 29th Dáil 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 People from Thurles Politicians from County Louth Politicians from County Tipperary Fine Gael senators Alumni of Maynooth University