Dara Murphy (born 2 December 1969) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

from 2014 to 2017 and Lord Mayor of Cork from 2009 to 2010. He served as 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 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, in order to take a full-time position in the administration of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Early and personal life

Murphy is from Mayfield, Cork. After attending Christian Brothers College, he studied economics at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

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, 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 by the

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 nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (18 May 1947 – 6 February 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001. He held cabinet positions between 1981‍ and 1987, including twice ...

in October 1996, serving until the end of 1997. He was elected to Cork City Council 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 60 ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, serving as Deputy Lord Mayor from 2005 to 2006 and

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

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 Cork City Council. On 15 July 2014, on the nomination of

Enda Kenny, Murphy was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour coalition government as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, 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 and Trade (Ireland), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Gove ...

and for data protection. 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, He was not appointed to ministerial position by Leo Varadkar 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 democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

in the 2019 European Parliament election. In May 2018, Murphy announced that he intended to retire from Dáil Éireann 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 as a senior adviser.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Dara 1969 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Fine Gael TDs Members of Cork City Council 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 Fine Gael local councillors People educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork