Tánaiste facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tánaiste
Incumbent Simon Harris since 23 January 2025
Executive branch of the Irish Government
Style	Tánaiste Irish: A Thánaiste
Member of	Cabinet Council of State Dáil Éireann
Reports to	Taoiseach
Seat	Dublin, Ireland
Nominator	Taoiseach
Appointer	President
Inaugural holder	Seán T. O'Kelly
Formation	29 December 1937
Salary	€224,973 annually

The Tánaiste (pronounced TAW-nish-tuh) is the second most important person in the government of Ireland. This role is similar to a deputy prime minister in other countries.

The Taoiseach (Ireland's prime minister) chooses the Tánaiste. Then, the President of Ireland officially appoints them. The current Tánaiste is Simon Harris, who started this role on January 23, 2025.

History of the Tánaiste Role

The word Tánaiste comes from an old Irish system called tanistry. In this system, the tánaiste was the chosen heir of a chief (called a taoiseach) or a king (called a rí).

When Ireland wrote its new Constitution in 1937, they used this old word. It became the official title for the person who steps in for the Taoiseach when needed. The title Tánaiste is used in both English and Irish. For deputy prime ministers in other countries, the Irish term is different.

What Does the Tánaiste Do?

The job of Tánaiste was created in 1937. It took the place of an older role called the Vice-President of the Executive Council.

The Taoiseach chooses someone from the Dáil Éireann (Ireland's main parliament) to be the Tánaiste. The President of Ireland then officially appoints them.

The Tánaiste has a few important duties:

• They step in for the Taoiseach if the Taoiseach is away for a short time.
• If the Taoiseach cannot do their job anymore, the Tánaiste becomes the acting Taoiseach until a new one is chosen.
• They are also automatically a member of the Council of State, which advises the President.
• The Tánaiste leads government meetings when the Taoiseach is not there.
• They can also answer questions in parliament on behalf of the Taoiseach.

Even with these duties, the title of Tánaiste is mostly about honor and respect. The Constitution does not give the Tánaiste many extra powers compared to other government members. Every Tánaiste has also held another important job as a government minister.

Sometimes, when different political parties form a coalition government (working together), the Tánaiste is the leader of the second-biggest party in that group.

Four people who were Tánaiste later became Taoiseach: Seán Lemass, Bertie Ahern, Brian Cowen, and Leo Varadkar. Also, two Tánaistí later became President of Ireland: Seán T. O'Kelly and Erskine H. Childers. The role of Tánaiste is the highest government position a woman has held in Ireland so far.

List of Tánaistí

Vice-President of the Executive Council
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office		Party		Exec. Council (President)	Ministries as Vice-President
1		Kevin O'Higgins (1892–1927) TD for Leix–Offaly until 1923 TD for Dublin County from 1923	6 December 1922	10 July 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	1·2 (W.T.Cosgrave)	Justice (1922–1927)
2		Ernest Blythe (1889–1975) TD for Monaghan	14 July 1927	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal	3·4·5 (W.T.Cosgrave)	Posts and Telegraphs (1927–1932)
3		Seán T. O'Kelly (1882–1966) TD for Dublin North until 1937 TD for Dublin North-West from 1937	9 March 1932	29 December 1937		Fianna Fáil	6·7·8 (de Valera)	Local Government and Public Health (1932–1937)
Tánaiste
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office		Party		Government (Taoiseach)	Ministries as Tánaiste Higher Offices Held
(3)		Seán T. O'Kelly (1882–1966) TD for Dublin North-West	29 December 1937	14 June 1945		Fianna Fáil	1·2·3·4 (de Valera)	Local Government and Public Health (1937–1939) Education (1939) Finance (1939–1945) President of Ireland (1945–1959)
4		Seán Lemass (1899–1971) TD for Dublin South	14 June 1945	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil	4 (de Valera)	Supplies (1945) Industry and Commerce (1945–1948)
5		William Norton (1900–1963) TD for Kildare	18 February 1948	13 June 1951		Labour Party	5 (Costello)	Social Welfare (1948–1951)
(4)		Seán Lemass (1899–1971) TD for Dublin South-Central	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6 (de Valera)	Industry and Commerce (1951–1954)
(5)		William Norton (1900–1963) TD for Kildare	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Labour Party	7 (Costello)	Industry and Commerce (1954–1957)
(4)		Seán Lemass (1899–1971) TD for Dublin South-Central	20 March 1957	23 June 1959		Fianna Fáil	8 (de Valera)	Industry and Commerce (1957–1959) Taoiseach (1959–1966)
6		Seán MacEntee (1889–1984) TD for Dublin South-East	23 June 1959	21 April 1965		Fianna Fáil	9·10 (Lemass)	Health (1959–1965)
7		Frank Aiken (1898–1983) TD for Louth	21 April 1965	2 July 1969		Fianna Fáil	11 (Lemass) 12 (Lynch)	External Affairs (1965–1969)
8		Erskine H. Childers (1905–1974) TD for Monaghan	2 July 1969	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil	13 (Lynch)	Health (1969–1973) President of Ireland (1973–1974)
9		Brendan Corish (1918–1990) TD for Wexford	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Labour Party	14 (L. Cosgrave)	Health (1973–1977)
10		George Colley (1925–1983) TD for Dublin Clontarf	5 July 1977	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil	15 (Lynch) 16 (Haughey)	Finance (1977–1979) Tourism and Transport (1979–1980) Energy (1980–1981)
11		Michael O'Leary (1936–2006) TD for Dublin Central	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Labour Party	17 (FitzGerald)	Energy (1981–1982)
12		Ray MacSharry (born 1938) TD for Sligo–Leitrim	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18 (Haughey)	Finance (1982)
13		Dick Spring (born 1950) TD for Kerry North	14 December 1982	20 January 1987		Labour Party	19 (FitzGerald)	Environment (1982–1983) Energy (1983–1987)
14		Peter Barry (1928–2016) TD for Cork South-Central	20 January 1987	10 March 1987		Fine Gael		Foreign Affairs (1987)
15		Brian Lenihan (1930–1995) TD for Dublin West	10 March 1987	31 October 1990		Fianna Fáil	20·21 (Haughey)	Foreign Affairs (1987–1989) Defence (1989–1990)
16		John Wilson (1923–2007) TD for Cavan–Monaghan	13 November 1990	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	21 (Haughey)	Marine (1990–1992)
							22 (Reynolds)	Defence and Gaeltacht (1992–1993)
(13)		Dick Spring (born 1950) TD for Kerry North	12 January 1993	17 November 1994		Labour Party	23 (Reynolds)	Foreign Affairs (1993–1994)
17		Bertie Ahern (born 1951) TD for Dublin Central	17 November 1994	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil		Finance (1994) Taoiseach (1997–2008)
(13)		Dick Spring (born 1950) TD for Kerry North	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Labour Party	24 (Bruton)	Foreign Affairs (1994–1997)
18		Mary Harney (born 1953) TD for Dublin South-West until 2002 TD for Dublin Mid-West from 2002	26 June 1997	13 September 2006		Progressive Democrats	25·26 (Ahern)	Enterprise, Trade and Employment (1997–2004) Health and Children (2004–2006)
19		Michael McDowell (born 1951) TD for Dublin South-East	13 September 2006	14 June 2007		Progressive Democrats	26 (Ahern)	Justice, Equality and Law Reform (2002–2007)
20		Brian Cowen (born 1960) TD for Laois–Offaly	14 June 2007	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	27 (Ahern)	Finance (2007–2008) Taoiseach (2008–2011)
21		Mary Coughlan (born 1965) TD for Donegal South-West	7 May 2008	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	28 (Cowen)	Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2008–2010) Education and Skills (2010–2011) Health and Children (2011)
22		Eamon Gilmore (born 1955) TD for Dún Laoghaire	9 March 2011	4 July 2014		Labour Party	29 (Kenny)	Foreign Affairs and Trade (2011–2014)
23		Joan Burton (born 1949) TD for Dublin West	4 July 2014	6 May 2016		Labour Party		Social Protection (2014–2016)
24		Frances Fitzgerald (born 1950) TD for Dublin Mid-West	6 May 2016	28 November 2017		Fine Gael	30 (Kenny)	Justice and Equality (2016–2017)
							31 (Varadkar)	Business, Enterprise and Innovation (2017)
25		Simon Coveney (born 1972) TD for Cork South Central	30 November 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael		Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017–2020)
26		Leo Varadkar (born 1979) TD for Dublin West	27 June 2020	17 December 2022		Fine Gael	32 (Martin)	Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2020–2022) Taoiseach (2017−2020, 2022–2024)
27		Micheál Martin (born 1960) TD for Cork South-Central	17 December 2022	23 January 2025		Fianna Fáil	33 (Varadkar)	Taoiseach (2020−2022, 2025−present) Foreign Affairs (2022–2025) Defence (2022–2025)
							34 (Harris)
28		Simon Harris (born 1986) TD for Wicklow	23 January 2025	Incumbent		Fine Gael	35 (Martin)	Taoiseach (2024−2025) Foreign Affairs (2025–present) Defence (2025–present)

Timeline of Tánaistí

This is a graph showing how long each Tánaiste has lived and when they were in office. They are listed in the order they first held the job.

See also

In Spanish: Tánaiste para niños