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Colm Burke

Colm Burke TD
Burke in 2020
Minister of State
2024–	Health
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office February 2020
Constituency	Cork North-Central
Senator
In office 24 April 2011 – 9 February 2020
Constituency	Industrial and Commercial Panel
Member of the European Parliament
In office 19 June 2007 – 24 June 2009
Constituency	South
Lord Mayor of Cork
In office 6 June 2003 – 4 June 2004
Preceded by	John Kelleher
Succeeded by	Seán Martin
Personal details
Born	(1957-01-17) 17 January 1957 (age 67) Cork, Ireland
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	Mary McCaffrey ​ (m. 1988)​
Alma mater	University College Cork

Colm Burke (born 17 January 1957) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central since the 2020 general election and has served as Minister of State at the Department of Health since 2024. He served as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 2011 to 2020, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South constituency from 2007 to 2009 and Lord Mayor of Cork from 2003 to 2004.^[1]

He was a member of the European Parliament for the South constituencyinIreland between 2007 and 2009.^[2] He was appointed in June 2007, following the re-election of the outgoing MEP Simon CoveneytoDáil Éireann. Following the abolition of the dual mandate, Coveney opted to remain in national politics and resigned from the European Parliament. Burke subsequently sat as a Fine Gael and European People's Party MEP. He served on various European Parliament committees including Committee on Foreign Affairs, Internal Market & Consumer Protection (Substitute), Committee on Fisheries (Substitute Member) and Subcommittee on Human Rights (Substitute Member). Burke lost his seat at the 2009 European Parliament election, with Fine Gael party colleague Seán Kelly taking a seat instead.^[3]

Burke was a member of Cork City Council from 1999 to 2007 and served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 2003 to 2004.^[4] He was elected to Seanad Éireann in April 2011 and re-elected in 2016. He was the Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Health.

He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2019 Cork North-Central by-election.^[5][6] He was elected for the Cork North-Central constituency at the 2020 general election.^[7] During the campaign, the windows of his constituency office were smashed and posters were taken.^[8]

On 10 April 2024, Burke was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Health following the appointment of Simon Harris as Taoiseach.^[9]

In July 2024, Burke, who had voted to repeal the Eighth Amendmentin2018, reported that he had been denied Holy Communion and informed that he was excommunicated during a funeral mass for a fellow Fine Gael member. The priest responsible for the incident would later confirm that his actions were in response to Burke's "support for abortion". The Association of Catholic Priests "unambiguously" condemned the incident and said that it was "not the role of the priest to judge the conscience of another person. The priest does not own the Eucharist".^[10][11]

• Colm Burke's page on the Fine Gael website
• Personal profile of Colm Burke in the European Parliament's database of members