The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Irish: Aire Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta) is the senior minister at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in the Government of Ireland.

The current Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is Éamon Ó Cuív, TD. He is assisted by:

• John Curran, TD – Minister of State for Integration and Community.

Contents 1 Overview 2 List of office-holders 2.1 Minister for the Gaeltacht 1956–1993 2.2 Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht 1993–1997 2.3 Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands 1997–2002 2.4 Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs 2002–present 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Overview

The department was created in 1956 as the Department of the Gaeltacht. Its present title dates from 6 June 2002 with the formation of the Government of the 29th Dáil. It has some 240 staff in 6 locations: mainly Dublin and Na Forbacha in County Galway.

The department has specific responsibility for a range of functions including:

• Community Development Programmes
• Local Development
• the RAPID programmes
• Coordination of the National Drugs Strategy
• North/South Co-operation
• Volunteering
• Rural Development initiatives

The department also retains the responsibilities previously held by the former Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands for:

• the Irish language
• the Gaeltacht
• the development of Ireland's inhabited off-shore islands.

[edit] List of office-holders

[edit] Minister for the Gaeltacht 1956–1993
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	Richard Mulcahy	2 June 1956	24 October 1956	Fine Gael
	2.	Patrick Lindsay	24 October 1956	20 March 1957	Fine Gael
	3.	Jack Lynch	20 March 1957	26 June 1957	Fianna Fáil
	4.	Micheál Ó Móráin (1st time)	26 June 1957	23 July 1959	Fianna Fáil
	5.	Gerald Bartley	23 July 1959	11 October 1961	Fianna Fáil
		Micheál Ó Móráin (2nd time)	11 October 1961	26 March 1968	Fianna Fáil
	6.	Pádraig Faulkner	27 March 1968	2 July 1969	Fianna Fáil
	7.	George Colley	2 July 1969	14 March 1973	Fianna Fáil
	8.	Tom O'Donnell	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	Fine Gael
	9.	Denis Gallagher (1st time)	5 July 1977	11 December 1979	Fianna Fáil
	10.	Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	12 December 1979	30 June 1981	Fianna Fáil
	11.	Paddy O'Toole (1st time)	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	Fine Gael
		Denis Gallagher (2nd time)	9 March 1982	14 December 1982	Fianna Fáil
		Paddy O'Toole (2nd time)	14 December 1982	10 March 1987	Fine Gael
	12.	Charles Haughey	10 March 1987	11 February 1992	Fianna Fáil
	13.	John Wilson	11 February 1992	12 January 1993	Fianna Fáil
	14.	Michael D. Higgins (1st time)	12 January 1993	21 January 1993	Labour Party
[edit] Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht 1993–1997
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Michael D. Higgins (1st time)	21 January 1993	17 November 1994	Labour Party
	15.	Bertie Ahern	18 November 1994	15 December 1994	Fianna Fáil
		Michael D. Higgins (2nd time)	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	Labour Party
	16.	Síle de Valera	26 June 1997	12 July 1997	Fianna Fáil
[edit] Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands 1997–2002
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Síle de Valera	12 July 1997	6 June 2002	Fianna Fáil
[edit] Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs 2002–present
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	17.	Éamon Ó Cuív	6 June 2002	Incumbent	Fianna Fáil

[edit] See also

• Irish cabinets since 1919
• Permanent North American Gaeltacht
• Volunteer Centres Ireland

[edit] External links

• Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs

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