Micheál Martin

Biography

Micheál Martin is an Irish politician who has led Fianna Fáil since 2011 and has twice served as Taoiseach. Born in Cork in 1960, he studied arts and political history at University College Cork, where he was active in the party's youth wing, and taught history briefly before winning a seat on Cork Corporation in 1985.

He was elected to the Dáil for Cork South-Central in 1989 and served as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1992. When Fianna Fáil returned to power in 1997 he became minister for education, and he went on to lead the departments of health, of enterprise, trade and employment, and of foreign affairs, where he handled the referendums on the Treaty of Lisbon.

After the party's leader Brian Cowen stepped down in 2011, Martin took over just before Fianna Fáil's worst election defeat, and he spent nine years as leader of the opposition. Following the 2020 election he became Taoiseach in a coalition with Fine Gael, the first time the two parties had governed together, and handed over to Leo Varadkar halfway through the term, serving as Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs and defence. He returned as Taoiseach in January 2025 after the 2024 election.