Joe McHugh

This article is about the Irish politician. For the World Wrestling Federation announcer, see Joe McHugh (announcer).

Joe McHugh
McHugh in 2017
Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs
In office
15 September 2020 – 8 November 2024
Preceded byMichael Healy-Rae
Minister for Education and Skills
In office
16 October 2018 – 27 June 2020
TaoiseachLeo Varadkar
Preceded byRichard Bruton
Succeeded byNorma Foley
Minister of State
2017–2018Government Chief Whip
2017–2018Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2016–2018Taoiseach
2016–2017Foreign Affairs and Trade
2014–2016Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2014–2016Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Teachta Dála
In office
February 2016 – November 2024
ConstituencyDonegal
In office
May 2007 – February 2016
ConstituencyDonegal North-East
Senator
In office
12 September 2002 – 24 May 2007
ConstituencyAdministrative Panel
Personal details
Born (1971-07-16) 16 July 1971
Carrigart, County Donegal, Ireland
Political partyFine Gael (until 2022)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2022–24)
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
RelativesTom Enright (father-in-law)
Alma materMaynooth University

Joe McHugh (born 16 July 1971) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician from Carrigart, County Donegal. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal North-East constituency from 2007 to 2016 and the Donegal constituency from 2016 to 2024. He served as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2018 and as Minister for Education and Skills from 2018 to 2020. He chaired the Committee on European Union Affairs from 2020 to 2024.

McHugh worked as a teacher and youth worker before winning election to Donegal County Council in the 1999 local elections. Elected to Seanad Éireann in 2002 as a senator for the Administrative Panel, he won a seat in Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election. In 2014, he became Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources, and from 2017 to 2018, he was Government Chief Whip. Appointed Minister for Education and Skills in October 2018, he oversaw the closure of schools and the cancellation of the 2020 Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was not appointed to the Cabinet following the formation of a new government in June 2020, and he declined an appointment as Minister of State.

In May 2022, McHugh announced that he would not stand at the next general election, saying he wished to spend more time with his family. In July 2022, he resigned the Fine Gael party whip to vote for an opposition bill on the defective block crisis, after which he continued as an independent TD until the dissolution of the 33rd Dáil in November 2024.

Early life

Born in Carrigart, County Donegal, McHugh was educated at Umlagh National School and Loreto Community School, Milford. He attended Maynooth University, where he received an honours degree in economics and sociology in 1992 and a higher diploma in education in 1993.[1] He taught geography and mathematics at Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he taught A-level economics in Dubai. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became a youth worker in the Ballyboe area of Letterkenny.[2][3]

Political career

Donegal County Council

McHugh won a seat in the Milford local electoral area in the 1999 Donegal County Council election.[4]

Seanad Éireann

Elected to Seanad Éireann as a Senator for the Administrative Panel in 2002, McHugh served as Fine Gael spokesperson on Community, Rural, Gaeltacht and Marine Affairs.[4] When he was selected as the Dáil candidate for Donegal North-East, he moved into a new constituency office in Letterkenny, which was officially opened by Fine Gael party leader Enda Kenny on 6 October 2006.[5][6]

Dáil Éireann

At the 2007 general election, McHugh topped the poll in Donegal North-East with 22.6% of the first preference vote.[7] His wife Olwyn Enright also won re-election to the Dáil, making them the third married couple to sit in the same Dáil.[8] In October 2007, McHugh was appointed party deputy spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Taoiseach, with special responsibility for North-South Co-operation.

In 2009, McHugh and Enright were criticised in the media for double-claiming overnight accommodation expenses while on official business in the Dáil, despite sharing accommodation as a married couple. Over the three years following their July 2005 marriage, McHugh was reported to have claimed €58,800 in overnight accommodation expenses, while Enright had separately claimed €61,600. Both TDs defended their expense claims as fully compliant with Oireachtas guidelines and procedures. Alleging that they were being subjected to a "disproportionate level of scrutiny of [their] personal circumstances" as the only married couple in the Dáil, McHugh stated that he had ceased claiming an overnight accommodation allowance in July 2008, due to the country's economic downturn.[9][10] In 2010, McHugh and Enright were each reported to be claiming 50 percent of the overnight accommodation allowance available to a TD.[11]

In January 2011, McHugh called for the government to mark the centenary of the founding of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912 by erecting a monument in Donegal.[12][13] Eileen Doherty—a sister of Donegal County Councillor Eddie Fullerton, who was assassinated by loyalists in 1991—criticised McHugh, claiming that he and Fine Gael councillors in Donegal had opposed building a monument in Fullerton's memory.[14] McHugh was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2011 general election, attaining 19.3% of the first-preference vote. Enright did not stand for re-election in 2011, having announced her decision to retire from politics while pregnant with the couple's second child.[15] In Manchester in October 2011, McHugh became the first Fine Gael TD to address delegates from the British Conservative Party. He described it as an "opportunity."[16]

On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources.[17][18][19] His appointment attracted criticism due to his basic knowledge of the Irish language,[20][21] although he was subsequently praised for his efforts to improve his language skills to the point where he could conduct lengthy interviews in Irish.[22] RTÉ Radio 1 produced a radio documentary, Fine Gaeilgeoir, narrated and produced by Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh, following his efforts to improve his Irish over the course of a year.[23] In 2025, he published a book, Beidh Tú Alright: An Irish Language Journey, detailing the backlash he received upon his appointment and his efforts to master the Irish language as an adult.[24][25]

In February 2016, McHugh was heavily criticised for allocating 93% of Gaeltacht grants to the Donegal Gaeltacht, which is located in and beside his constituency. This revelation led to calls for McHugh to appear before the Dáil Public Accounts Committee to explain such a disproportionate allocation of funding.[26] McHugh subsequently denied the claims.[27]

At the 2016 general election, McHugh was elected to the new five-seater Donegal constituency on the 11th count.[28] The following May, he met Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during their day visit to the county.[29]

He was appointed as Minister for Education and Skills on 16 October 2018.[30] As minister, he oversaw the closure of schools and the cancellation of the 2020 Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[31][32][33] Although he was re-elected in the 2020 general election, he was not re-appointed to the Government of the 33rd Dáil in June 2020 and declined the offer of appointment as a Minister of State.[34] In September 2020, he became Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs.

In May 2022, McHugh announced that he would not contest the next general election, saying he wished to spend more time with his family.[35][36][37] On 6 July 2022, he resigned the Fine Gael party whip in order to vote for an opposition bill regarding the defective block crisis.[38] Following McHugh's retirement from politics at the 2024 general election, Fine Gael ran two candidates in the Donegal constituency—Senator Nikki Bradley and John McNulty—but neither won election, marking the first time since the 1930s that Fine Gael did not win a seat in Donegal.[39]

Personal life

In July 2005, McHugh married Olwyn Enright, who served as a Fine Gael TD for Laois–Offaly from 2002 to 2011. They have three children.[40][41][42]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Centre for Irish in Maynooth University launched by alumnus Minister Joe McHugh". Maynooth University. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  2. ^ Moore, Jane (4 May 2022). "Former Education Minister Joe McHugh will not stand in next general election". The Journal. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  3. ^ "On Saturday 13 October 2018 an Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appointed Joe McHugh as Minister for Education and Skills". Irish National Teachers' Organisation. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b Maguire, Stephen (15 July 2014). "Exclusive: Joe McHugh appointed as new junior Gaeltacht minister". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  5. ^ "Joe McHugh named as Ireland's Minister for the Diaspora". IrishCentral.com. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  6. ^ "Joe McHugh". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Joe McHugh". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  8. ^ Michael O'Higgins and Brigid Hogan-O'Higgins both served in the 16th Dáil, 17th Dáil and 18th Dáil, and Alexis FitzGerald Jnr and Mary Flaherty both served as members in the 23rd Dáil.
  9. ^ Foxe, Kevin (22 February 2009). "TD couple 'double claim' overnight expenses". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  10. ^ Foxe, Kevin (10 May 2009). "€120k in overnight expenses for married Fine Gael couple". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  11. ^ Foxe, Kevin (6 June 2010). "Dáil couple claim only half of overnight allowances after expenses controversy". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  12. ^ Maguire, Stephen (9 January 2012). "Deputy McHugh Leads Campaign to mark 100th Anniversary of UVF". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Deputy McHugh Leads Campaign to Mark 100th Anniversary of UVF". Donegal Today. 9 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  14. ^ Doherty, Eileen (12 January 2012). "Sister of Murdered Councillor Writes Open Letter to Fine Gael Over Plans for Commemoration". Donegal Today. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Fine Gael couple's joy at birth of second child". Irish Independent. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  16. ^ "Fine Gael TD to address Conservative conference". BBC News. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  17. ^ Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2015 (S.I. No. 40 of 2015). Signed on 3 February 2015. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2 April 2021.
  18. ^ Energy and Natural Resources (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 585 of 2014). Signed on 16 December 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  20. ^ "New Gaeltacht affairs minister Joe McHugh books Irish language course". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  21. ^ Sheils McNamee, Michael (15 July 2014). "Gerry Adams and Enda Kenny's 'as gaeilge' stand off over Joe McHugh's Irish". The Journal. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  22. ^ Brophy, Daragh (30 August 2015). ""An incredible inspiration": Gaeltacht minister Joe McHugh on learning Irish from a New Yorker". The Journal. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Fine Gaeilgeoir". RTÉ Radio 1. RTÉ. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  24. ^ "Tánaiste to perform official launch of new book by Joe McHugh". Donegal Daily. 4 February 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  25. ^ Donaghy, Kathy (6 February 2025). "How the 'minister without a clue' found his way by rediscovering Irish". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  26. ^ "Gaeltacht minister 'should explain' allocation of grants". RTÉ News. 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  27. ^ Siggins, Lorna (8 April 2016). "Joe McHugh defends approving theatre grant against advice". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  28. ^ Moriarty, Gerry (28 February 2016). "Donegal count: Independent Thomas Pringle takes final seat". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  29. ^ "Prince Charles and Duchess begin Donegal visit". Donegal News. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  30. ^ Fitzgerald, Martina (13 October 2018). "Bruton named Minister for Communications, McHugh named Minister for Education". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  31. ^ Daly, Adam (12 March 2020). "Here's what the planned closure of schools will mean for teachers and students". The Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  32. ^ Hosford, Paul (13 May 2020). "'Compelling evidence' to cancel Leaving Cert, Minister insists as scrutiny intensifies"". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  33. ^ "Minister McHugh announces revised arrangements for Junior Cycle 2020". Government of Ireland. Department of Education and Youth. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  34. ^ Moore, Aoife (1 July 2020). "Joe McHugh turns down junior ministerial role". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  35. ^ Ryan, Philip; Hyland, Paul (4 May 2022). "Former minister Joe McHugh is stepping down from politics to spend more time with family". Irish Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  36. ^ Lehane, Mícheál (4 May 2022). "Donegal TD Joe McHugh won't contest next general election". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  37. ^ Hosford, Paul (4 May 2022). "Fine Gael TD and former education minister Joe McHugh won't stand for re-election". Irish Examiner. Cork. ISSN 1393-9564. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  38. ^ McLaughlin, Rachel (6 July 2022). "Joe McHugh resigns party whip as mica scheme passed by Dáil". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  39. ^ Ryan, Emma (1 December 2024). "'In certain parts, we need to start again' – Senator Nikki Bradley reacts as Fine Gael loses seat in Donegal". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  40. ^ Sheahan, Fionnan (3 November 2009). "FG's Olwyn celebrates baby with TD husband". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
  41. ^ "Fine Gael couple's joy at birth of second child". Irish Independent. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  42. ^ "Joe McHugh TD". Fine Gael. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
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