Mary Butler (born 29 September 1966) 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

Government Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

since January 2025, and

Minister of State at the Department of Health The Minister of State at the Department of Health is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Health of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Health. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet ran ...

since July 2020. She 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

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

constituency since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. She previously served as chair of the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation from 2016 to 2020.

Political career

She was the Fianna Fáil junior spokesperson for Older People and Chair of Oireachtas Cross Party group on Dementia. She had been a member of

Waterford City and County Council Waterford City and County Council () is the local authority of the City of Waterford and County Waterford in Ireland. It came into operation on 1 June 2014 after the 2014 local elections. It is a merger of Waterford City Council and Waterfor ...

from 2014 to 2016, before her election to the Dáil in

. Butler was opposed to the legalisation of abortion in Ireland. She called for a No vote in the 2018 referendum on abortion, and co-organised an event calling for a No vote. Butler put forward a bill in 2018 with the aim of banning tattoos and intimate piercings for people under the age of eighteen; this bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil. In 2020, she was appointed as

with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People.

Canvassing controversy

Former

Brendan Kenneally Brendan Kenneally (born 1 April 1955) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1989 general election. In February 1992, he was appoint ...

canvassed for Butler during the 2016 general election campaign, at which she was first elected to the Dáil. Bill Kenneally, a cousin of Kenneally's, was convicted of 1980s sexual abuse of boys, and Kenneally had previously acknowledged that he had been aware of his cousin's crimes before his sentencing to 14 years imprisonment. Butler received criticism for Kenneally's involvement in her 2016 campaign. However, four years later, she again had Keneally canvass for her ahead of the 2020 general election. Kenneally's canvassing for Mary Butler in 2020 became public knowledge when it emerged that he had visited the homes of some of those who had been abused to seek their votes. It also emerged that Butler was renting her

constituency office A constituency office, also called an electorate office, is an office operated by a local political officeholder, such as a Member of Parliament (MP), within the area they represent. It may be used to have meetings with constituents, or adminis ...

from Kenneally, and when it did so, she stated in an interview that she would move elsewhere and did so in early 2020. At the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, Butler was re-elected to the Dáil.

Personal life

Butler is married to Michael, and they have three children. She survived a skin cancer scare in 2022.

References

External links

Mary Butler's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Mary 1966 births Living people Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Fianna Fáil TDs Members of Waterford City and County Council Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland Fianna Fáil local councillors Members of the 34th Dáil Ministers of State of the 34th Dáil Government Chief Whip (Ireland)