Jump to content

Main menu Navigation ●Main page ●Contents ●Current events ●Random article ●About Wikipedia ●Contact us ●Donate Contribute ●Help ●Learn to edit ●Community portal ●Recent changes ●Upload file

●Create account ●Log in ●Create account ● Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more ●Contributions ●Talk

(Top) 1 History 2 Overview 3 List of office-holders 3.1 Minister for Home Affairs 1919–1924 3.2 Minister for Justice 1924–1997 3.3 Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997–2010 3.4 Minister for Justice and Law Reform 2010–2011 3.5 Minister for Justice and Equality 2011–2020 3.6 Minister for Justice 2020–present 4 References 5 External links

Minister for Justice (Ireland)

●Català ●Français ●Simple English Edit links ●Article ●Talk ●Read ●Edit ●View history Tools Actions ●Read ●Edit ●View history General ●What links here ●Related changes ●Upload file ●Special pages ●Permanent link ●Page information ●Cite this page ●Get shortened URL ●Download QR code ●Wikidata item Print/export ●Download as PDF ●Printable version In other projects ●Wikimedia Commons Appearance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Minister for Justice and Equality)

Minister for Justice

Incumbent Helen McEntee since 1 June 2023
Department of Justice
Member of	Government of Ireland 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	Official website

The Minister for Justice (Irish: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Justice. The Minister for Justice has overall responsibility for law and order in Ireland.^[1]

The current Minister for Justice is Helen McEntee, TD. McEntee is assisted by a Minister of State:

James Browne, TD – Minister of State for Law Reform and Youth Justice^[2]^[3]

History[edit]

From 1919 until 1924 the position was known as the Minister for Home Affairs.^[4]^[5] 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.^[6] The minister held the title of Minister for Justice and Equality from 2011 to 2020.^[7] As of 2020, the position is known as Minister for Justice.^[8] This followed a transfer of functions to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Overview[edit]

The Minister's main areas of responsibility include:^[9]

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[edit]

Denotes acting Minister

Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)^[a]
Minister for Home Affairs 1919–1924[edit]
Michael Collins	22 January 1919	1 April 1919		Sinn Féin	1st DM
Arthur Griffith	2 April 1919	22 August 1921		Sinn Féin	2nd DM
Austin Stack^[b]	22 August 1921	9 January 1922		Sinn Féin	3rd DM
Eamonn Duggan	10 January 1922	9 September 1922		Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	4th DM • 1st PG
Kevin O'Higgins	30 August 1922	2 June 1924		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd PG • 5th DM • 1st EC • 2nd EC
Minister for Justice 1924–1997[edit]
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Kevin O'Higgins	2 June 1924	10 July 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd EC • 3rd EC
W. T. Cosgrave^[c]	10 July 1927	12 October 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	3rd EC
James FitzGerald-Kenney	12 October 1927	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal	4th EC • 5th EC
James Geoghegan	9 March 1932	8 February 1933		Fianna Fáil	6th EC
P. J. Ruttledge	8 February 1933	8 September 1939		Fianna Fáil	7th EC • 8th EC • 1st • 2nd
Gerald Boland (1st time)	8 September 1939	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil	2nd • 3rd • 4th
Seán Mac Eoin	18 February 1948	7 March 1951		Fine Gael	5th
Daniel Morrissey	7 March 1951	13 June 1951		Fine Gael	5th
Gerald Boland (2nd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
James Everett	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Labour	7th
Oscar Traynor	20 March 1957	11 October 1961		Fianna Fáil	8th • 9th
Charles Haughey	11 October 1961	8 October 1964		Fianna Fáil	10th
Seán Lemass (acting)	8 October 1964	3 November 1964		Fianna Fáil	10th
Brian Lenihan Snr	3 November 1964	26 March 1968		Fianna Fáil	10th • 11th • 12th
Mícheál Ó Móráin	27 March 1968	5 May 1970		Fianna Fáil	12th • 13th
Desmond O'Malley	5 May 1970	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil	13th
Patrick Cooney	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Fine Gael	14th
Gerry Collins (1st time)	5 July 1977	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil	15th • 16th
Jim Mitchell	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	17th
Seán Doherty	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
Michael Noonan	14 December 1982	14 February 1986		Fine Gael	19th
Alan Dukes	14 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	19th
Gerry Collins (2nd time)	10 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	20th
Ray Burke^[d]	12 July 1989	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	21st
Pádraig Flynn	11 February 1992	4 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	22nd
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	4 January 1993	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	23rd
Nora Owen	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	24th
John O'Donoghue	26 June 1997	8 July 1997		Fianna Fáil	25th
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997–2010[edit]
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
John O'Donoghue	8 July 1997	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	25th
Michael McDowell	6 June 2002	14 June 2007		Progressive Democrats	26th
Brian Lenihan Jnr	14 June 2007	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	27th
Dermot Ahern	7 May 2008	23 March 2010		Fianna Fáil	28th
Minister for Justice and Law Reform 2010–2011[edit]
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Dermot Ahern	23 March 2010	19 January 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
Brendan Smith^[e]	20 January 2011	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
Alan Shatter^[f]	9 March 2011	2 April 2011		Fine Gael	29th
Minister for Justice and Equality 2011–2020[edit]
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Alan Shatter^[f]	2 April 2011	7 May 2014		Fine Gael	29th
Frances Fitzgerald	8 May 2014	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	29th • 30th
Charles Flanagan	14 June 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	31st
Helen McEntee	27 June 2020	1 November 2020		Fine Gael	32nd
Minister for Justice 2020–present[edit]
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Helen McEntee	1 November 2020	27 April 2021		Fine Gael	32nd
Heather Humphreys^[g]	27 April 2021	1 November 2021		Fine Gael
Helen McEntee^[h]	1 November 2021	25 November 2022		Fine Gael
Heather Humphreys^[g]	25 November 2022	17 December 2022		Fine Gael
Simon Harris^[i]	17 December 2022	1 June 2023		Fine Gael	33rd
Helen McEntee	1 June 2023	Incumbent		Fine Gael	33rd • 34th

Notes

^ Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.

^ Austin Stack held the title of Secretary of State for Home Affairs.

^ Also President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.

^ Also Minister for Communications from 31 March 1987 to 6 February 1991.

^ Also Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

^ ^a ^b Also Minister for Defence.

^ ^a ^b Also Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development.

^ On maternity leave from 27 April 2021 to 1 November 2021, and again from 25 November 2022 to 1 June 2023. ^[10]^[11]

^ Also Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

References[edit]

^ "Minister for Justice". Government of Ireland. 19 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.

^ "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, archived from the original on 7 August 2020, retrieved 24 July 2020

^ "About Us". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

^ "An early history of the Department". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.

^ "Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, Schedule, Tenth Part: Ministers named in former Acts". Irish Statute Book. 21 April 1924. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

^ Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997 (S.I. No. 298 of 1997). Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 November 2018.

^ Justice and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 138 of 2011). Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 November 2018.

^ Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 452 of 2020). Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2 November 2020.

^ "Our Responsibilities - The Department of Justice". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021.

^ "Ministerial Responsibilities – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil)". Oireachtas. 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

^ "Statement by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee". Department of Justice. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.

External links[edit]

Official website

v t e Government of Ireland
Political posts	Taoiseach (prime minister) Tánaiste (deputy prime minister)
Ministries	Agriculture, Food and the Marine Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Defence Education Enterprise, Trade and Employment Environment, Climate and Communications Finance Foreign Affairs Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Health Housing, Local Government and Heritage Justice Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform Rural and Community Development Social Protection Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Transport
Former ministries	Co-ordination of Defensive Measures Economic Affairs Fine Arts Industries Labour Posts and Telegraphs Publicity Supplies
Other	List of Governments Government Chief Whip Female cabinet ministers Minister of State (junior minister) Female Ministers of State Attorney General

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minister_for_Justice_(Ireland)&oldid=1232237170" Categories: ●Ministers for justice of Ireland ●Government ministers of the Republic of Ireland ●Lists of government ministers of Ireland ●Ministries established in 1919 ●Justice ministers ●Department of Justice (Ireland) Hidden categories: ●Articles with short description ●Short description is different from Wikidata ●Use dmy dates from December 2021 ●Use Hiberno-English from December 2021 ●All Wikipedia articles written in Hiberno-English ●Articles containing Irish-language text ●This page was last edited on 2 July 2024, at 17:58 (UTC). ●Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. ●Privacy policy ●About Wikipedia ●Disclaimers ●Contact Wikipedia ●Code of Conduct ●Developers ●Statistics ●Cookie statement ●Mobile view