Michael Ring (born 24 December 1953) 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 Mayo constituency from 1997 to 2024, and previously from 1994 to 1997 for the Mayo West constituency. He served as

Minister for Rural and Community Development The Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht ( Irish: ''An tAire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail agus Gaeltachta'') is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Rural and Community Developmen ...

from 2017 to 2020 and 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 2011 to 2017.

Early and personal life

Ring was born in

Westport, County Mayo Westport (, historically anglicised as ''Cahernamart'') is a town in County Mayo in Republic of Ireland, Ireland.Westport Before 1800 by Michael Kelly published in Cathair Na Mart 2019 It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the ...

, in 1953. He was educated at Westport CBS and the local vocational school. He later worked as an estate agent and auctioneer in Westport.

Political career

Ring was unsuccessful as a

candidate in the Mayo West constituency in the 1992 general election. However, he was elected at his second attempt in a 1994 by-election. He was appointed to the Fine Gael Front Bench in 2002, as Spokesperson on Social and Family Affairs. Ring stepped down from the Front Bench in 2004, after an expected demotion, however, he returned in 2007 as Spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. On 10 March 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport with responsibility for Tourism and Sport by the

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 ...

of Fine Gael and the Labour Party led by Ring's constituency colleague

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 ...

. This appointment lasted until the formation of a new government on 6 May. On 19 May 2016, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs with responsibility for Regional Economic Development by the new

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

of Fine Gael and Independents led by Enda Kenny. He was appointed to cabinet on 14 June 2017 as

in the new

of Fine Gael and Independents led by

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, ...

. His appointment ended on 27 June 2020 on the formation of the new government. On 30 July 2024, Ring announced that he would not contest the next general election.

References

External links

Michael Ring's page on the Fine Gael website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ring, Michael 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Fine Gael TDs Irish auctioneers Members of Mayo County Council Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil People from Westport, County Mayo Members of the 33rd Dáil Fine Gael local councillors