Irish heads of government since 1919 Information & Irish heads of government since 1919 Links at HealthHaven.com

[edit] Ireland (and predecessor states)

The head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland is known as the Taoiseach and heads a cabinet called the Government. However, since 1919, heads of government in the Irish state have borne a number of titles. Under the short-lived Irish Republic of 1919–1922 the head of government was known first as the President of Dáil Éireann and later as the President of the Republic. Under the 1922–1937 Irish Free State the head of government was the President of the Executive Council. There also briefly existed, immediately before the creation of the Irish Free State, an interim office of Chairman of the Provisional Government. For a brief period in 1921 the offices of President of the Republic and Chairman of the Provisional Government existed simultaneously.

[edit] Offices

Head	Deputy	Cabinet	State	Constitution	Date
President of Dáil Éireann^[1]	n/a	Aireacht (or Ministry)	Irish Republic	Dáil Constitution	1919–Dec. 1922
Chairman	n/a	Provisional Government	Southern Ireland	Irish Free State (Agreement) Act, 1922	Jan–Dec. 1922
President	Vice President	Executive Council	Irish Free State	Constitution of the Irish Free State	Dec. 1922–1937
Taoiseach	Tánaiste	Government	Éire / Ireland	Constitution of Ireland	1937–present

[edit] List of office holders

	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
1.	Cathal Brugha	21 January 1919	1 April 1919	Sinn Féin
2.	Éamon de Valera (1st time)	1 April 1919	9 January 1922	Sinn Féin
3.	Arthur Griffith^[2]	10 January 1922	12 August 1922	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty faction)
4.	Michael Collins^[2]	16 January 1922	22 August 1922	Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty faction)
5.	W. T. Cosgrave	22 August 1922	9 March 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael^[3]
	Éamon de Valera (2nd time)	9 March 1932	18 February 1948	Fianna Fáil
6.	John A. Costello (1st time)	18 February 1948	13 June 1951	Fine Gael
	Éamon de Valera (3rd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954	Fianna Fáil
	John A. Costello (2nd time)	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	Fine Gael
	Éamon de Valera (4th time)	20 March 1957	23 June 1959	Fianna Fáil
7.	Seán Lemass	23 June 1959	10 November 1966	Fianna Fáil
8.	Jack Lynch (1st time)	10 November 1966	14 March 1973	Fianna Fáil
9.	Liam Cosgrave	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	Fine Gael
	Jack Lynch (2nd time)	5 July 1977	11 December 1979	Fianna Fáil
10.	Charles Haughey (1st time)	11 December 1979	30 June 1981	Fianna Fáil
11.	Garret FitzGerald (1st time)	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	Fine Gael
	Charles Haughey (2nd time)	9 March 1982	14 December 1982	Fianna Fáil
	Garret FitzGerald (2nd time)	14 December 1982	10 March 1987	Fine Gael
	Charles Haughey (3rd time)	10 March 1987	11 February 1992	Fianna Fáil
12.	Albert Reynolds	11 February 1992	15 December 1994	Fianna Fáil
13.	John Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	Fine Gael
14.	Bertie Ahern	26 June 1997	6 May 2008	Fianna Fáil
15.	Brian Cowen	7 May 2008	Incumbent	Fianna Fáil

[edit] Northern Ireland

The most recent devolved cabinet in Northern Ireland is the Northern Ireland Executive, established under the Belfast Agreement. The Executive has been in operation, intermittently, since 1999; but has existed continuously since 2007. Since 1921, there have been three different prime ministerial offices in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Offices

Office	Cabinet	Date
Prime Minister	Executive	1921–1971
Chief Executive	Executive (Sunningdale)	1973–1974
First Minister	Executive	1998–present

[edit] List of office holders

	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
1.	Sir James Craig	7 June 1921	24 November 1940	Ulster Unionist Party
2.	John Miller Andrews	25 November 1940	1 May 1943	Ulster Unionist Party
3.	Sir Basil Brooke	1 May 1943	25 March 1963	Ulster Unionist Party
4.	Terence O'Neill	25 March 1963	1 May 1969	Ulster Unionist Party
5.	James Chichester-Clark	1 May 1969	23 March 1971	Ulster Unionist Party
6.	Brian Faulkner (1st time)	23 March 1971	30 March 1972	Ulster Unionist Party
	Brian Faulkner (2nd time)	1 January 1974	28 May 1974	Ulster Unionist Party
7.	David Trimble	1 July 1998	14 October 2002	Ulster Unionist Party
8.	Ian Paisley	8 May 2007	5 June 2008	Democratic Unionist Party
9.	Peter Robinson	5 June 2008	Incumbent	Democratic Unionist Party

[edit] Footnotes

^ The President of Dáil Éireann was upgraded to a head of state-level President of the Irish Republic in August 1921.
^ ^a ^b From January to August 1922 there were two administrations operating in parallel, the Provisional Government and the Ministry of the Irish Republic, and each cabinet had an overlapping membership. Thus, during this time, there were two heads of government, Arthur Griffith, as President of the Republic, and Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland. This anomalous situation came about because the British Government would only recognise the parliament that it had established through the Government of Ireland Act, so Sinn Féin participated in the charade to move matters along. The dual leadership came to an end when W. T. Cosgrave assumed both offices on the deaths of Griffith, on the 12 August 1922, and Collins, on 22 August, and merged the two parallel administrations.
^ When W. T. Cosgrave first became head of government he was still technically a member of Sinn Féin. However the pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin reformed itself as Cumann na nGaedhael shortly afterwards.

[edit] See also

[0] The President of Dáil Éireann was upgraded to a head of state-level President of the Irish Republic in August 1921.

[admins-1] From January to August 1922 there were two administrations operating in parallel, the Provisional Government and the Ministry of the Irish Republic, and each cabinet had an overlapping membership. Thus, during this time, there were two heads of government, Arthur Griffith, as President of the Republic, and Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland. This anomalous situation came about because the British Government would only recognise the parliament that it had established through the Government of Ireland Act, so Sinn Féin participated in the charade to move matters along. The dual leadership came to an end when W. T. Cosgrave assumed both offices on the deaths of Griffith, on the 12 August 1922, and Collins, on 22 August, and merged the two parallel administrations.

[2] When W. T. Cosgrave first became head of government he was still technically a member of Sinn Féin. However the pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin reformed itself as Cumann na nGaedhael shortly afterwards.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Contents

[edit] Ireland (and predecessor states)

[edit] Offices

[edit] List of office holders

[edit] Northern Ireland

[edit] Offices

[edit] List of office holders

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also