Mary Coughlan (politician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Coughlan
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|---|---|
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| Tánaiste | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 9 March 2011 |
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| Taoiseach | Brian Cowen |
| Preceded by | Brian Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Eamon Gilmore |
| Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 31 January 2011 |
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| Leader |
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| Preceded by | Brian Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Mary Hanafin |
| Minister for Health and Children | |
| In office 20 January 2011 – 9 March 2011 |
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| Taoiseach | Brian Cowen |
| Preceded by | Mary Harney |
| Succeeded by | James Reilly (Health) Frances Fitzgerald (Children) |
| Minister for Education and Skills | |
| In office 23 March 2010 – 9 March 2011 |
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| Taoiseach | Brian Cowen |
| Preceded by | Batt O'Keeffe (Education and Science) |
| Succeeded by | Ruairi Quinn |
| Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 23 March 2010 |
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| Taoiseach | Brian Cowen |
| Preceded by | Micheál Martin |
| Succeeded by | Batt O'Keeffe (Enterprise, Trade and Innovation) |
| Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
| In office 29 September 2004 – 7 May 2008 |
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| Taoiseach | Bertie Ahern |
| Preceded by | Joe Walsh (Agriculture and Food) |
| Succeeded by | Brendan Smith |
| Minister for Social and Family Affairs | |
| In office 17 June 2002 – 29 September 2004 |
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| Taoiseach | Bertie Ahern |
| Preceded by | Dermot Ahern (Social, Community and Family Affairs) |
| Succeeded by | Séamus Brennan |
| Minister of State | |
| 2001–2002 | Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office February 1987 – February 2011 |
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| Constituency | Donegal South-West |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 May 1965 Donegal, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse |
David Charlton
(m. 1995; died 2012) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | Clement Coughlan (uncle) |
| Education | Ursuline College Sligo |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Mary Coughlan (born 28 May 1965) is an Irish politician who used to be a member of the Fianna Fáil party. She held many important jobs in the Irish government. From 2008 to 2011, she was the Tánaiste, which is like a deputy prime minister. She was also the Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil during that time.
Mary Coughlan served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal South-West area from 1987 to 2011. A TD is a member of the Dáil Éireann, which is the main part of the Irish parliament.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mary Coughlan was born in Donegal Town in May 1965. Her father, Cathal Coughlan, was also a Fianna Fáil TD. He passed away in 1986.
Mary went to Ballydevitt National School. Then, she attended Ursuline College in Sligo as a boarder. After that, she studied at University College Dublin (UCD) and earned a degree in Social Science. Before becoming a politician, she worked briefly as a social worker.
Political Career
Starting in Politics
Mary Coughlan grew up in a political family, so she was interested in politics from a young age. She joined a local Fianna Fáil group when she was 16.
She was first elected as a TD in the 1987 general election. She represented the Donegal South-West area. At 21 years old, she was the youngest member of the 25th Dáil. Her uncle, Clement Coughlan, was also a TD before he passed away in 1983. Her father became a TD in 1983 and served until his death in 1986. After her father's death, Mary took his place on the Donegal County Council in 1986, which helped start her political career.
For her first 13 years as a TD, Mary worked as a regular member of parliament. She served on several committees, including those for tourism, sport, and the Irish language. She also worked with the British-Irish Parliamentary Body. In 1995, she became the party's spokesperson on educational reform.
Minister of State Role
In February 2001, Mary Coughlan became a Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. This meant she had special responsibilities for the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) and the islands.
During her 16 months in this role, she helped create a new law to protect the language rights of citizens. She also updated rules for Irish-speaking families building homes in the Gaeltacht. She worked on a report about the Irish language in the Gaeltacht and helped create jobs there. She also oversaw important improvements to island facilities, like connecting Inishbofin Island to the national electricity grid in 2002.
Cabinet Minister (2002–2011)
After the 2002 general election, Mary Coughlan was promoted to a full cabinet minister. This meant she was in charge of a whole government department.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs (2002–2004)
As Minister for Social and Family Affairs, she increased payments for social welfare and expanded support for families. She set up the Family Support Agency to help families, promote stable family life, and prevent family problems.
She faced some criticism for changes to rent supplements and cuts to payments for widows and widowers. However, she was also praised for significantly increasing child benefits and pensions. She introduced Personal Retirement Savings Accounts and helped the State's Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (2004–2008)
In 2004, Mary Coughlan became Minister for Agriculture and Food. She was the first woman in the Republic of Ireland to hold this position.
During her time, the last two sugar factories in Ireland closed. Farmers were unhappy, feeling that the government did not do enough to keep them open. She also had to deal with the threat of bird flu spreading to Ireland in 2006.
After the 2007 general election, she was re-appointed to this role, with added responsibility for fisheries. She had to put measures in place to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease from Great Britain in 2007. She also took part in international trade talks, working to protect Irish agriculture.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2008–2010)
In May 2008, Mary Coughlan became Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment under the new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen.
She supported the Treaty of Lisbon, which was about how the European Union works. She made a mistake in a radio interview about the number of European Commissioners, which led to some criticism. She also had a moment where she struggled with numbers when discussing medical cards.
Some politicians compared her to Sarah Palin, a US politician, because of her public speaking. She also announced a change in the budget in her local area before it was officially announced by the government.
Mary Coughlan took strong action to deal with wasteful spending at FÁS, a state training agency. She also asked large shops in Ireland to lower their prices to match those in Northern Ireland, and she sent the Competition Authority to investigate why prices were different.
She was criticized for not doing enough about job losses at a Dell factory in Limerick. However, she did help keep 2,000 Dell jobs in Ireland and secured over €22 million in European funds for the workers who lost their jobs. She also worked to close loopholes in company law to make banks more transparent.
In April 2009, another politician, John McGuinness, criticized her leadership. Later that year, she was called Calamity Coughlan after mistakenly saying Einstein developed the theory of evolution. She also accidentally mentioned a general election date and called her Green Party colleagues "na glasraí" (the vegetables).
Minister for Education and Skills (2010–2011)
In March 2010, she became Minister for Education and Skills, while still being Tánaiste. She supported giving extra points to students who studied higher-level maths. She also improved the student grant application process, making it faster.
In January 2011, she also became Minister for Health and Children after the previous minister resigned.
End of Political Career
In the 2011 general election, Mary Coughlan lost her seat as a TD. Her number of votes dropped significantly. This was a big moment for Fianna Fáil, as Donegal South-West no longer had a Fianna Fáil TD for the first time ever.
After leaving politics, Mary Coughlan received a lump sum payment and an annual pension. In 2022, she returned to public life when she was appointed Chair of the National Conference on Women in Farming.
Personal Life
Mary Coughlan is a fluent Irish speaker.
In 1991, she married David Charlton, who worked for the police force. They had two children, a son and a daughter. David Charlton passed away in 2012.
Mary Coughlan also served as the secretary of the St Naul's GAA club.
