- Martin Mansergh
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Martin Mansergh Minister of State at the Department of Finance In office
May 2008 – February 2011Preceded by Noel Ahern Succeeded by Brian Hayes Teachta Dála In office
May 2007 – February 2011Constituency Tipperary South Senator In office
September 2002 – May 2007Constituency Agricultural Panel Personal details Born 31 December 1946
EnglandNationality Irish Political party Fianna Fáil Alma mater Christ Church, Oxford Religion Anglican Martin Mansergh (born 31 December 1946) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and historian. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary South constituency from May 2007 until his defeat at the general election in February 2011.[1] He was previously a senator from 2002 to 2007.
He has played a leading role[citation needed] in formulating Fianna Fáil policy on Northern Ireland. Unusually among current prominent Irish nationalists, Mansergh is an Anglican, and was born and raised in England.
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Education
Mansergh is the son of the County Tipperary-born historian Nicholas Mansergh [2] He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and Christ Church, Oxford, studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics and obtaining a Doctorate in philosophy for a study of pre-revolutionary French history.
Career
He entered the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, being appointed a Third secretary in 1974 and became a First Secretary in 1977. Later recruited by Taoiseach Charles Haughey, he has worked for the Fianna Fáil party ever since, serving under three Fianna Fáil leaders as Director of Research, Policy and Special Advisor on Northern Ireland where he was involved in discussions between the nationalist parties and the Irish Government and met regularly with intermediary Father Alec Reid.
Mansergh was a key member[citation needed] of the teams which formed the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition in 1992 and the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition in 1997[citation needed]. As a senior adviser[citation needed] to successive Taoisigh, Mansergh has played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process over the last twenty years. He ran for Fianna Fáil as a Dáil candidate in the Tipperary South constituency at the 2002 general election but failed to be elected with 14.2% of the poll.[3] However, Mansergh was elected to the 22nd Seanad by the Agricultural Panel in July of that year. At the 2007 general election he again ran for Fianna Fáil as a Dáil candidate in the Tipperary South constituency, this time being elected with 15.7% of the poll.[4] He is a member of the Irish Council of State.
Until 2006 he wrote a weekly column for The Irish Times, but resigned because of the upcoming general election. In May 2008, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, as well as Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism with special responsibility for the Arts.
In January 2009 he offered to quit his junior ministry post to save money and called on people to retain their Celtic Tiger style optimism and self respect. He said: We're not going to get anywhere by completely throwing overboard our self respect. We have achieved a tremendous amount in the past 20 years - they were the best 20 years in our history. There will be cycles - we rose very high and we are where we are now. We have to work our way out of this intelligently.
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Mansergh has been a strong supporter of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, whose financial affairs are under investigation by the Mahon Tribunal. He has been accused by some commentators of being insulting, condescending and petulant to opposition politicians.[5]
On an RTÉ radio[6] show Morning Ireland in February 2008, Mansergh reassured listeners that Ahern's difficulties were no more than a spot of inflight turbulence, with a safe landing in sight. When Fine Gael's tribunal expert, Senator Eugene Regan dissented, Mansergh became quite agitated, questioning why Regan wanted to question Ahern's finances declaring to Regan that: You should have respect for your betters![6]
References
- ^ "Tipperary South". Election 2011 (RTÉ News). http://www.rte.ie/news/election2011/results/tipperary-south.html. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ^ Martin Mansergh interviewed by Tommy Graham, "In the Service of the State",History Ireland Magazine,Vol. 12, no.3, Autumn 2004,pp.43-6.
- ^ "Martin Mansergh". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=4856. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ "General election 2007 – Tipperary South". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2007&cons=219. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ "The Big House Award for Maintaining Standards and Putting Manners on the Lower Orders". The Irish Times. 27 December 2008. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1227/1229728560734.html.
- ^ a b "RTÉ Radio interview link". RTÉ News. 22 February 2008. http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0222/morningireland_av.html?2340660,242,209.
Further reading
- Mansergh, Martin, The Legacy of History for Making Peace in Ireland, ISBN 9781856353892, ISBN 1856353893
- Rafter, Kevin, Martin Mansergh – A Biography, ISBN 9781904301059
- 2009 Comment on Irish unity
Oireachtas Preceded by
Séamus Healy
(Independent)Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Tipperary South
2007–2011Succeeded by
Séamus Healy
(WUAG)Political offices Preceded by
Noel AhernMinister of State at the Department of Finance
(with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works)
2008–2011Succeeded by
Brian HayesNew office Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism
(with special responsibility for the Arts)
2008–2011Succeeded by
Office abolishedCategories:- 1946 births
- Living people
- Irish historians
- Irish civil servants
- Fianna Fáil politicians
- Teachtaí Dála
- Members of the 22nd Seanad
- Members of the 30th Dáil
- Presidential appointees to the Council of State of Ireland
- Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
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