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>Micheál Martin
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miche%C3%A1l_Martin
Micheál Martin (Irish pronunciation: [ˈmʲiːçaːlˠ];[2][3][4] born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Taoiseach since June 2020 and as Leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-Central since 1989. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2020, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2004 to 2008, Minister for Health and Children from 2000 to 2004, and Minister for Education and Science from 1997 to 2000.
Born in Cork, Martin initially worked as a teacher before entering politics. He was elected to Cork City Council in 1985, and served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1992 to 1993. In 1989, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Cork South-Central, a seat he has represented ever since. After the victory of Fianna Fáil at the 1997 election, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern appointed Martin to the Cabinet. In 2004, during his time as Health Minister, Martin was notable for introducing a ban on tobacco smoking in all Irish workplaces, making Ireland the first country in the world to introduce a full workplace smoking ban. In the same year, Martin established the Health Service Executive. In 2009, Martin became the first Irish Foreign Minister to travel to Latin America, during which time he also made the first official visit to Cuba by any Irish minister. Martin also visited Khartoum during his time as Foreign Minister, following the kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki.
In January 2011, Martin resigned as Foreign Minister in protest at the leadership of Brian Cowen. Following Cowen's own resignation as Leader of Fianna Fáil, Martin was quickly elected to replace him. Just weeks later, at the 2011 general election, Martin led Fianna Fáil to the worst result in its 85-year history, with a loss of 57 seats and a popular vote of just 17.4%. He nevertheless remained in the leadership, becoming Leader of the Opposition, with most party members choosing to blame Cowen rather than Martin for the result. At the 2016 general election, Fianna Fáil's performance improved significantly, more than doubling their representation in the Dáil. Martin continued as Leader of the Opposition and led his party through the 2020 general election, which led to Fianna Fáil becoming the largest party in the Dáil by just one seat.[5][a]
After lengthy negotiations, Martin was appointed Taoiseach on 27 June 2020, leading a grand coalition with longtime rival party Fine Gael, marking the first time these two parties had governed together, along with the Green Party. Under the terms of the coalition agreement, Martin's predecessor, Leo Varadkar, became Tánaiste, and is scheduled to swap roles with Martin in December 2022.[7]
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>Senator Tim Kaine
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