Charles McConalogue (born 29 October 1977) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

politician who has served as Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport since January 2025. He previously served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine from September 2020 to January 2025 and

Minister of State at the Department of Justice The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the M ...

from July 2020 to September 2020. He has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Donegal North-East constituency.

Early life

McConalogue has a degree in economics, politics and history from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD), which he completed after a year as Education Officer in the UCD Students' Union. After graduation, he worked as a political organiser at the Fianna Fáil HQ in Dublin. Upon the death of his father, he returned home to manage the family farm near Carndonagh in the north of

Inishowen Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfor ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

. He was raised near Gleneely, a village in the north of Inishowen, and was in Australia before returning to the farm. He is married with two sons.

Political career

McConalogue was elected to Donegal County Council at the 2009 local elections to represent the Inishowen local electoral area. After Jim McDaid's retirement and Niall Blaney's decision to step down from politics for personal reasons, Fianna Fáil had no sitting TD in Donegal North-East to contest the 2011 general election. The party chose McConalogue as Fianna Fáil's sole candidate for the constituency. In the election, he won 17.4% of the first-preference vote and was elected on the 9th count to fill the third and final seat, behind

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

's Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...

's Joe McHugh. He was the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Children from April 2011 to July 2012. In July 2012, he was appointed as party spokesperson on Education and Skills. In the 2016 general election, after a redrawing of constituency boundaries, McConalogue ran alongside Pat "the Cope" Gallagher as one of two Fianna Fáil candidates in the new five-seater Donegal constituency. McConalogue topped the poll and was elected on the first count. He represented Fianna Fáil in talks on government formation in 2016. On 1 July 2020, McConalogue was appointed as a

with responsibility for law reform. On 2 September that year, he was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with the vacancy having arisen following the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal. It emerged in December 2020 that McConalogue had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

after returning from Brussels on 17 December, prompting all ministers in the Government to restrict their movements. The initial result was negative. He went shopping in Dublin hours ahead of a scheduled five-day follow-up COVID-19 test which led to the positive result he received on 23 December. He displayed no symptoms and isolated in his native Donegal. McConalogue had been due to travel to Canada for St Patrick's Day in March 2022. However, he later confirmed that a positive COVID-19 test had prevented him from doing so. His period of isolation elapsed in time for him to sit on the "VIP lorry" at the parade in

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in Inishowen in the north of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. The town sits on the eastern shores of Lough Swilly, being northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. I ...

. On 17 December 2022, he was re-appointed to the same position following Leo Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach. At the 2024 general election, McConalogue was re-elected to the Dáil. He was not re-appointed as a senior cabinet minister in January 2025. On 29 January 2025, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport with special responsibility for sport and postal policy.

References

External links

Charlie McConalogue's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConalogue, Charlie 1977 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Fianna Fáil TDs 20th-century Irish farmers Members of Donegal County Council Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Politicians from County Donegal Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for agriculture of Ireland People educated at Carndonagh Community School People from Carndonagh Fianna Fáil local councillors Members of the 34th Dáil Ministers of State of the 34th Dáil