Martin O'Donoghue

Martin O'Donoghue
Minister for Education
In office 9 March 1982 – 6 October 1982
Preceded by	John Boland
Succeeded by	Charles Haughey
Minister for Economic Planning and Development
In office 8 July 1977 – 11 December 1979
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Michael O'Kennedy
Minister without portfolio
In office 5 July 1977 – 8 July 1977
Personal details
Born	13 May 1933 (1933-05-13) Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Occupation	Economist

Martin O'Donoghue (born May 1933) is a former Irish politician and economist. He also served as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) and holds the distinction of being one of only five TDs to be appointed Minister on their first day in the Dáil. He is a Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin and serves with Tony O'Reilly's O'Reilly Foundation.

Life

Martin O'Donoghue was born in Dublin in May 1933. He was educated in Crumlin and worked as a waiter in Dublin, becoming a mature student in University of Dublin and later obtaining a doctorate in philosophy, with economics as his discipline, from that university.

Career

From 1962–64 and from 1967–69 he was economic consultant at the Departments of Education and Finance respectively. From 1970–73 O'Donoghue was economic adviser to the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch.

Politics

At the 1977 general election O'Donoghue was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Dún Laoghaire constituency. He was the architect of the election manifesto which saw Fianna Fáil achieve an unprecedented twenty seat majority. O'Donoghue was immediately appointed Minister for Economic Planning and Development. In 1979, Charles Haughey became Taoiseach and O'Donoghue's ministerial position was abolished. In 1982 O'Donoghue was returned to Cabinet as Minister for Education. He resigned in October 1982, when he refused to support Haughey in a leadership challenge and in November 1982 lost his Dáil seat in the general election.

O'Donogue entered Seanad Éireann after loss of his Dáil seat. Allegedly when a senior Fianna Fáil member was asked why Martin O'Donoghue wasn't expelled from the party, given what O'Donoghue was saying about Fianna Fáil and its leadership, he replied^{[citation needed]} "he's not worth expelling". He remained in Seanad Éireann until 1987 when he drifted out of Fianna Fáil to support the Progressive Democrats.

Later career

In 1998 O'Donoghue became a director of the Irish Central Bank, serving with this and its successor body until the end of April 2008.

He is currently a Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin, having retired from his career as a Lecturer and Associate Professor of Economics there. He is also a member of the Scholarship Board of Tony O'Reilly's O'Reilly Foundation.

Sources and external links

• The O'Reilly Foundation - Scholarship Board, photo and short profiles

References and notes

• This page incorporates information from the Oireachtas Members Database

Political offices
Preceded by –	Minister without portfolio 1977	Succeeded by –
Preceded by New office	Minister for Economic Planning and Development 1977–1979	Succeeded by Michael O'Kennedy
Preceded by John Boland	Minister for Education 1982	Succeeded by Charles Haughey (acting)