Micheál Martin has been officially appointed as Taoiseach - and he's named the ministers who'll sit around the Cabinet table.
The senior roles have been split across Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens - with six roles for the two larger parties, and three for the Greens.
Here are the men and women who've been named as new ministers:
Fianna Fáil
Micheál Martin - Taoiseach
Micheál Martin. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ieConstituency: Cork South-Central
TD since: 1989
Cabinet experience: Various portfolios under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, including Education, Foreign Affairs and Health
Only weeks from his 60th birthday and nearly ten years after being elected as Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin is set to lead the new government until December 2022. He’s the only new Fianna Fáil minister to have sat around the cabinet table before, having been a key frontbencher during the Bertie Ahern years.
Michael McGrath - Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Michael McGrath. Photo: RollingNews.ieConstituency: Cork-South Central
TD since: 2007
Cabinet experience: None
With Micheál Martin as Taoiseach and Simon Coveney keeping his seat at the Cabinet table, Michael McGrath’s appointment makes him the third representative from the constituency to secure a senior role in this new government. Like most of his Fianna Fáil colleagues, it’s his first time at the table - in this case after nearly an entire decade as his party’s finance spokesperson, having kept the role across several reshuffles over the years.
Stephen Donnelly - Minister for Health
Stephen Donnelly. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ieConstituency: Wicklow
TD since: 2011
Cabinet experience: None
Stephen Donnelly made headlines when he left the Social Democrats - the party he co-founded with Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall - after just over a year and later joined Fianna Fáil. Despite being a party newcomer, he was soon appointed to Micheál Martin’s frontbench as spokesperson on Brexit. He was later reshuffled to health, the portfolio he'll now take over.
Norma Foley - Minister for Education
Constituency: Kerry
TD since: 2020
Cabinet experience: None
Norma Foley is only a TD since February, but she's now secured a seat at the Cabinet table. Before her election to the Dáil, she was a long-time member of Kerry County Council and a secondary school teacher in Tralee - the latter job apt given her new appointment. Her father was the late Fianna Fáil TD Denis Foley.
Darragh O’Brien - Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Darragh O'Brien. Photo Rollingnews.ieConstituency: Dublin Fingal
TD since: 2007. Served one term before losing his seat in 2011. Served a term as senator before being re-elected to the Dáil in 2016.
Cabinet experience: None
Darragh O’Brien joins the Cabinet after a stint as Fianna Fáil spokesperson on housing, planning and local government - and that's the department he'll be taking over from Eoghan Murphy (albeit with a bit of a name change). He spent a term as senator after losing his Dáil seat in 2011, but was swiftly appointed to Micheál Martin’s frontbench after being re-elected to the Dáil in 2016.
Barry Cowen - Minister for Agriculture and Marine
Barry Cowen. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ieConstituency: Laois-Offaly
TD since: 2011
Cabinet experience: None
Barry Cowen secures a Cabinet role after nearly a decade as a TD. He's far from the first Cowen to enjoy a high-profile political role, however: he's the brother of former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, while their late father Bernard was a former TD, senator and minister of state. Barry has most recently served as the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform.
Fine Gael
Leo Varadkar - Tánaiste / Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Picture: Julien Behal Photography
Constituency: Dublin West
TD since: 2007
Cabinet experience: He has spent the past three years as Taoiseach, and before that held several portfolios - including Health and Social Protection - in Enda Kenny’s cabinets.
Leo Varadkar is handing over the keys to the Taoiseach’s office to Micheál Martin, but isn’t losing his seat at the Cabinet table. However, if all goes according to the new government’s plan - and assuming he holds onto the Fine Gael leadership - he’ll take over as head of government again in December 2022. He'll be Tánaiste until then.
Simon Coveney - Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence
Simon Coveney. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ieConstituency: Cork South-Central
TD since: 1998
Cabinet experience: Has held various portfolios since 2011, including the Agriculture and Defence ministries. Since 2017 he’s served as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Simon Coveney has spent over 20 years as a TD, having first been elected following the death of his father Hugh in 1998. In 2017 he contested the Fine Gael leadership contest, losing out to Leo Varadkar. Despite losing out in that vote, he was appointed as the party’s deputy leader. He took over as Tánaiste after Frances Fitzgerald stepped down from the role in late 2017. He may no longer be Tánaiste, but he will remain as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Helen McEntee - Minister for Justice
Helen McEntee. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ieConstituency: Meath East
TD since: 2013
Cabinet experience: No senior role. Appointed as Minister of State for European Affairs in 2017, after a short-stint as Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People
While a number of former Fine Gael senior ministers have lost their seats, Helen McEntee has enjoyed a significant promotion to Justice Minister. Previously a Minister of State for European Affairs, she was perhaps the most prominent junior minister in Leo Varadkar’s Cabinet - often appearing alongside the Taoiseach or Tánaiste at crunch Brexit meetings in Brussels.
Paschal Donohoe - Minister for Finance
Paschal Donohoe: Photo Leon Farrell/Photocall IrelandConstituency: Dublin Central
TD since: 2011
Cabinet experience: Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from 2014-16, before becoming Minister for Public Expenditure in 2016 and Finance Minister a year later.
First elected to the Dáil after a term as a senator, Paschal Donohoe was first appointed to Cabinet under Enda Kenny before being promoted to Finance Minister by Leo Varadkar. It's a job he'll keep in the new government. He’s well used to working with Fianna Fáil on financial matters, having needed to secure their backing for recent budgets under the confidence & supply arrangement.
Heather Humphreys - Minister for Social Protection, Community & Rural Development, and the Islands
Heather Humphreys. Photograph: RollingNews.ieConstituency: Cavan-Monaghan
TD since: 2011
Cabinet experience: Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht from 2014 to 2017 (albeit under different ministry names), before becoming Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation in Leo Varadkar’s Cabinet
Like many of her recent Cabinet colleagues (some of whom have now been relegated to the back-benches), Heather Humphreys was first appointed to a senior government role in Enda Kenny’s 2014 reshuffle, with her original department repurposed or expanded several times during her time in office. She joins the new government after a three year-stint as Business Minister.
Simon Harris - Minister for Higher Education, Innovation and Science
Simon Harris. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNewsConstituency: Wicklow
TD since: 2011
Cabinet experience: Health Minister since 2016
The youngest TD elected in 2011, Simon Harris has rapidly become one of Fine Gael’s most visible ministers in one of the most fraught government roles. Despite high-profile controversies such as CervicalCheck during his time as health minister, he also was the public face of the government’s historic and ultimately successful push to repeal the Eighth Amendment. His last months in that office saw him oversee many elements of the Government's coronavirus response. He's handing that role to his constituency colleague Stephen Donnelly.
Green Party
Eamon Ryan - Minister for Climate Action, Communications Networks and Transport
File photo of Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ieConstituency: Dublin Bay South
TD since: 2002 (although lost his seat between 2011 and 2016)
Cabinet experience: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources under the Fianna Fáil / Greens coalition, 2007-2011
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is no stranger to coalition, and has worked with Fianna Fáil before. In recent years, he has helped rebuild the Greens from their electoral wipeout in 2011 to winning a record 12 seats in February’s election. Like Micheál Martin, he’s been a party leader since 2011 - and both men return to the Cabinet table after nine years away. Unsurprisingly, he'll lead the Government response on climate action and transport.
Catherine Martin - Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and the Gaeltacht
Catherine Martin. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ieConstituency: Dublin Rathdown
TD since: 2016
Cabinet experience: None
Catherine Martin, deputy leader of the Green Party, was one of the negotiators for the programme for government, and her backing of the deal was seen as vital to win over some members. She’ll soon face Eamon Ryan in a leadership contest, with Deputy Martin already winning the backing of some of the party’s younger, more left-wing councillors. For now, she'll have plenty of responsibility in a department encompassing six distinct policy areas.
Roderic O’Gorman - Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration
Roderic O'GormanConstituency: Dublin West
TD since: 2020
Cabinet experience: None
37-year-old Roderic O’Gorman may be a newcomer TD (one of only two first-time TDs in the Cabinet), but he’s a veteran Green Party member - serving as party chairman from 2011 until last year. A former Fingal County Councillor, he has also worked as a law lecturer in Dublin City University - lecturing in EU and Planning law. He takes over from Katherine Zappone as Minister for Children.
