Fergus O'Dowd

Fergus O'Dowd (born 1 September 1948) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 2002 to 2024. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in September 2020. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport from 2017 to 2020 and as a Minister of State from 2011 to 2014.^[1][2]

Fergus O'Dowd
O'Dowd in 2013
Chair of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
In office 15 September 2020 – 8 November 2024
Preceded by	Kathleen Funchion
Chair of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
In office 8 July 2017 – 15 September 2020
Preceded by	Brendan Griffin
Succeeded by	Kieran O'Donnell
Minister of State
2011–2014	Environment, Community and Local Government
2011–2014	Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Teachta Dála
In office May 2002 – November 2024
Constituency	Louth
Senator
In office 17 September 1997 – 17 May 2002
Constituency	Administrative Panel
Personal details
Born	(1948-09-01) 1 September 1948 (age 76) Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Other political affiliations	Labour Party (until 1982)
Spouse	Agnes O'Dowd
Children	3
Relatives	Niall O'Dowd (brother)
Alma mater	NUI Maynooth

Early life

O'Dowd was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, in 1948. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Drogheda, County Louth.

Political career

He was first elected to Drogheda Borough Council in 1974 as a member of the Labour Party, and was elected to Louth County Council in 1979, serving on the county council until 2003. He contested the 1977 general election as a Labour Party candidate, but was not elected. In 1982, O'Dowd left the Labour Party and joined Fine Gael.^[3][4] He served three terms as Mayor of Drogheda: 1977–1978, 1981–1982 and 1994–1995.

A teacher before entering politics, O'Dowd was elected to Seanad Éireann for the Administrative Panel in 1997. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election.^[5] He was immediately appointed Fine Gael spokesperson for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and resigned his Council seat in 2003 in accordance with the Dual Mandate. He served as party spokesperson on Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2004 to 2007, and on Transport and Marine from 2007 to 2010. In June 2010, he supported Richard Bruton's leadership challenge to Enda Kenny. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, O'Dowd was appointed as party spokesperson on Education and Skills.^[6]

On 10 March 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with special responsibility for the NewEra Project.^[7][2][8] He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014.^[9]

On 27 November 2023, O'Dowd announced that he would not contest the next general election.^[10]

Personal life

O'Dowd lives in Drogheda and is married to Agnes O'Dowd; they have three sons. He is a brother of Niall O'Dowd, publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper in New York City.^[11] Another brother, Michael O'Dowd, stood against him for Renua at the 2016 general election and in 2024 general election and also served as a Mayor of Drogheda and on Louth County Council from 1999-2014 for Fine Gael.^[12]

References

1. "Fergus O'Dowd". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
2. Government economic stimulus plan
3. "Entering coalition with Labour will be no problem for Fergus". independent. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
4. "ElectionsIreland.org: Fergus O'Dowd". electionsireland.org. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
5. "Fergus O'Dowd". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
6. "Bruton & Noonan return to Fine Gael frontbench". RTÉ News. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
7. "Appointment of Ministers of State" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 2011 (23): 402–403. 22 March 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
8. Energy and Natural Resources (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 631 of 2011). Signed on 6 December 2011. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 7 April 2021.
9. "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
10. "O'Dowd latest Fine Gael TD not standing at next election". RTÉ News. 27 November 2023.
11. "Drumm says words taken out of context". Sunday Independent. 30 June 2013. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
12. "A Fine Gael TD is being challenged by his own brother: Michael O'Dowd is running for Renua against his brother, former minister Fergus O'Dowd". TheJournal.ie. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.

External links

• Fergus O'Dowd's page on the Fine Gael website