Sport is certainly well placed in the party political stakes after the appointment last night of Dara Calleary as the Minister of State with responsibility for the sector.
The Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil joins Senior Minister Catherine Murphy who holds similar high rank within the Green Party, as the two who will oversee the continuation of the National Sports Policy through the lifetime of this Government.
The link between Tourism and Sport which has persisted through the stewardship of Ministers of State Brendan Griffin, Patrick O’Donovan and Michael Ring has now been broken and Dara Calleary will mix his sporting responsibilities with those of An Gaeltacht and in his position as Government Chief Whip in the office of An Taoiseach.
The Mayo TD hails from Ballina and has been a TD since his election in 2007.
He has a wealth of experience in Government and opposition having served as Minister of State between 2009 and 2011 at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with responsibility for Labour Affairs and then at the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Finance with responsibility for Public Service Transformation.
In opposition he served as Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Justice, Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation and most recently Public Expenditure & Reform.
He was appointed Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil and Director of Policy Development in April 2018 and is very well placed within the party.
Born in 1973, Calleary is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. His Father and Grandfather both represented Mayo as TD’s and Dara spent time working in banking and with Chambers Ireland before commencing his political career.
In recent weeks he has posted content supportive of the Mayo Sports Partnership and the National Be Active Day, suggesting he is well connected into local sporting activity. He has also posted supportive messages for fundraising at Kilmoreabbey Ladies Football Club.
It will become apparent over the coming weeks and months how involved he will want to and have time to be involved in sport.
It is likely that his first responsibilities to take over as Chair of the Expert group advising Government on the Return to Sport and also as Chair of the Steering Group guiding the implementation of the National Sports Policy.
We bid him welcome to the post and wish him good luck throughout his time in office.
The post Introducing Dara Calleary, Minister of State for Sport appeared first on Sport for Business.
