Minister for Justice (Ireland)

Minister for Justice
Minister for Justice
	Incumbent; Helen McEntee; since 27 June 2020
	Department of Justice
Member of	Cabinet; Council of the European Union; Dáil Éireann;
Reports to	Taoiseach
Seat	Dublin, Ireland
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	Michael Collins as Minister for Home Affairs
Formation	22 January 1919
Website	justice.ie

The Minister for Justice (Irish: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt) is the senior minister at the Department of Justice in the Government of Ireland. The Minister has overall responsibility for law and order in Ireland.

The current Minister for Justice is Helen McEntee, TD. She is assisted by Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform.^[1]^[2]

History

From 1919 until 1923 the holder of the justice portfolio was known as the Minister for Home Affairs.^[3] In 1997, the functions of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform were transferred to this Minister, and it was renamed as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a title which it retained until 2010.^[4] The minister held the title of Minister for Justice and Equality from 2011 to 2020.^[5] As of 2020, the position is known as Minister for Justice.

Overview

The Minister's and the Department's main areas of responsibility include:

Implementing government policy and proposing new policy on crime, immigration, asylum, criminal and civil law reform and the criminal justice system in general.
Implementation of government policy and proposing new policy in relation to national security (an area many countries assign to a separate 'Home' or 'Homeland Security' minister)
Control and reform of the Garda Síochána
Pardons (which are formally given by the President on the binding "advice" of the government, after proposal by the Minister for Justice - a rarely used power)
Implementation of core elements of the Good Friday Agreement.

List of office-holders

Denotes acting Minister

No.	Name	Term of office		Party
Minister for Home Affairs 1919–1923
1	Michael Collins	22 January 1919	1 April 1919 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin
2	Arthur Griffith	2 April 1919	22 August 1921 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin
3	Austin Stack^[a]	22 August 1921	9 January 1922 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin
4	Eamonn Duggan	10 January 1922	9 September 1922 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)" \|	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)
5	Kevin O'Higgins	30 August 1922	19 September 1923 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #87CEFA;" data-sort-value="Cumann na nGaedheal" \|	Cumann na nGaedheal
Minister for Justice 1923–1997
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
	Kevin O'Higgins	19 September 1923	10 July 1927 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #87CEFA;" data-sort-value="Cumann na nGaedheal" \|	Cumann na nGaedheal
6	W. T. Cosgrave	10 July 1927	12 October 1927 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #87CEFA;" data-sort-value="Cumann na nGaedheal" \|	Cumann na nGaedheal
7	James FitzGerald-Kenney	12 October 1927	9 March 1932 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #87CEFA;" data-sort-value="Cumann na nGaedheal" \|	Cumann na nGaedheal
8	James Geoghegan	9 March 1932	8 February 1933 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
9	P. J. Ruttledge	8 February 1933	8 September 1939 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
10	Gerald Boland (1st time)	8 September 1939	18 February 1948 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
11	Seán Mac Eoin	18 February 1948	7 March 1951 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
12	Daniel Morrissey	7 March 1951	13 June 1951 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
	Gerald Boland (2nd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
13	James Everett	2 June 1954	20 March 1957 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (Ireland)" \|	Labour
14	Oscar Traynor	20 March 1957	11 October 1961 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
15	Charles Haughey	11 October 1961	8 October 1964 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
16	Seán Lemass (acting)	8 October 1964	3 November 1964 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
17	Brian Lenihan Snr	3 November 1964	26 March 1968 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
18	Mícheál Ó Móráin	27 March 1968	5 May 1970 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
19	Desmond O'Malley	5 May 1970	14 March 1973 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
20	Patrick Cooney	14 March 1973	5 July 1977 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
21	Gerry Collins (1st time)	5 July 1977	30 June 1981 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
22	Jim Mitchell	30 June 1981	9 March 1982 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
23	Seán Doherty	9 March 1982	14 December 1982 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
24	Michael Noonan	14 December 1982	14 February 1986 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
25	Alan Dukes	14 February 1986	10 March 1987 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
	Gerry Collins (2nd time)	10 March 1987	12 July 1989 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
26	Ray Burke	12 July 1989	11 February 1992 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
27	Pádraig Flynn	11 February 1992	4 January 1993 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
28	Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	4 January 1993	15 December 1994 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
29	Nora Owen	15 December 1994	26 June 1997 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
30	John O'Donoghue	26 June 1997	8 July 1997 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997–2010
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
	John O'Donoghue	8 July 1997	6 June 2002 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
31	Michael McDowell	6 June 2002	14 June 2007 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #1251A2;" data-sort-value="Progressive Democrats" \|	Progressive Democrats
32	Brian Lenihan Jnr	14 June 2007	7 May 2008 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
33	Dermot Ahern	7 May 2008	23 March 2010 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
Minister for Justice and Law Reform 2010–2011
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
	Dermot Ahern	23 March 2010	19 January 2011 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
34	Brendan Smith^[b]	20 January 2011	9 March 2011 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #66BB66;" data-sort-value="Fianna Fáil" \|	Fianna Fáil
35	Alan Shatter^[c]	9 March 2011	2 April 2011 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
Minister for Justice and Equality 2011–2020
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
35	Alan Shatter^[d]	2 April 2011	7 May 2014 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
36	Frances Fitzgerald	8 May 2014	14 June 2017 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
37	Charles Flanagan	14 June 2017	27 June 2020 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael
Minister for Justice 2020–present
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
38	Helen McEntee	27 June 2020	Incumbent style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6699FF;" data-sort-value="Fine Gael" \|	Fine Gael

Notes

^ Austin Stack held the title of Secretary of State for Home Affairs.
^ Also Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
^ Also Minister for Defence.
^ Also Minister for Defence.

References

^ "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, retrieved 24 July 2020
^ "About Us". Department of Justice and Equality. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
^ "Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, Section 1: Establishment of the Departments of State". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
^ "Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
^ "Justice and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

External links

Department of Justice

[6] Austin Stack held the title of Secretary of State for Home Affairs.

[7] Also Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

[8] Also Minister for Defence.

[9] Also Minister for Defence.

[currentgov-1] "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, retrieved 24 July 2020

[2] "About Us". Department of Justice and Equality. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

[3] "Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, Section 1: Establishment of the Departments of State". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

[4] "Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

[5] "Justice and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

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History

Overview

List of office-holders

Minister for Home Affairs 1919–1923

Minister for Justice 1923–1997

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997–2010

Minister for Justice and Law Reform 2010–2011

Minister for Justice and Equality 2011–2020

Minister for Justice 2020–present

See also

References

External links