Éamon Ó Cuív
From Freepedia
Éamon Ó Cuív (born June 1950) is a senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician and is currently the Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Galway West since 1992 and has previously been a member of Seanad Éireann.
Éamon Ó Cuív was born in Dublin in June 1950 and was educated at Oatlands College, Dublin and University College Dublin. Before he entered politics he was the manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development. In 1989 Ó Cuív was elected to Seanad Éireann. He served there until 1992 when he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD. In 1997 Ó Cuív was appointed Minister for State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht & the Islands, serving under his cousin Síle de Valera who was the senior minister at the Department. Following the Irish General Election, 2002 Ó Cuív was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs.
Éamon Ó Cuív comes from a famed political dynasty. He is the grandson of Fianna Fáil founder, first Taoiseach and third President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera. He is a nephew of the former TD, Vivion de Valera and is a first cousin of the former Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht & the Islands, Síle de Valera.
Political career
He introduced a bill to officially rename Gaeltacht areas to their Irish name and not show the English version on signposts. The bill attracted controversy as the tourist town, Dingle, was renamed An Daingean. Some residents fear that tourists will be unable to find the town, thus damaging its important tourist industry.
It is now expected that the residents of An Daingean will hold a plebiscite to determine which version of the town name should be used. Ó Cuív originally signalled that he was happy to abide by the locals' decision, in accordance with Local Government regulations. However, Ó Cuív has recently said that the name can not legally be changed back to Dingle, following advice from the Office of the Attorney General.
| Preceded by: Síle de Valera | Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs 2002– | Succeeded by: Current Incumbent |
