Michael Creed (born 29 June 1963) is an Irish former

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 ...

politician who 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-West "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

constituency from 2007 to 2024, and previously from 1989 to 2002. He served as

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine. The current Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries a ...

from 2016 to 2020.

Early and personal life

He is the son of the former TD and

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 ...

Donal Creed Donal John Creed (7 September 1924 – 23 November 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from June 1981 to February 1982 and from December 1982 to February 1986. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to ...

. Born in

Macroom Macroom (; ) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork (city), Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of war, ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, in 1963. Creed was educated at St. Colman's College,

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,700 people. It is located in the barony (Ir ...

and De La Salle College, in Macroom. He went on to third level 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 ...

and the College of Commerce,

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

. His qualifications are a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, Higher Diploma of Education and a Diploma in Legal Studies.

Political career

Creed was elected

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

in 1985 for the

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...

of Bandon. He served on that authority until 2007. He was Chairman of Cork County Council from 2005 to 2006. He was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

at the 1989 general election and retained his seat at each election until losing it at the 2002 general election, to his Fine Gael running mate Gerard Murphy. He was Chairman of the Dáil Small Business and Services Committee from 1995 to 1997. He was party Spokesperson on Education, Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in 1994, Health 1989 to 1993, Youth and Sport 1993 to 1994. After regaining his Dáil seat at the 2007 general election, at the expense of Gerard Murphy, he was party Spokesperson on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 2007 to 2010. At the 2011 general election he held his seat after topping the poll in the first preference vote. In June 2010, he supported

Richard Bruton Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North from 2016 to 2024, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He was the Cha ...

'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 (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, Creed was not re-appointed to the front bench. After Fine Gael formed a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the Labour Party in March 2011, to the surprise of many Creed remained as a backbench TD. He remained as a backbencher during the entire duration of the

31st Dáil The 31st Dáil was elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and first met at midday on 9 March 2011 in Leinster House. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are k ...

. He was again elected to the Dáil at the 2016 general election. Following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016, Creed was appointed to the cabinet as

. He was re-appointed when

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

became Taoiseach in June 2017. He stayed in office until the formation of a

in 2020 of

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 ...

, Fine Gael and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

in June 2020, when he was not appointed to cabinet. In April 2023, Creed announced that he would not contest the next general election.

References

External links

*
Michael Creed's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creed, Michael 1963 births Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Alumni of University College Cork Fine Gael TDs 20th-century Irish farmers Members of Cork County Council Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for agriculture of Ireland Politicians from County Cork People from Macroom Fine Gael local councillors