Éamon Ó Cuív

Early life

Ó Cuív is the son of Brian Ó Cuív, professor of Celtic Studies at University College Dublin, and Emer de Valera, who was the last surviving daughter of Fianna Fáil founder and former President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, when she died at the age of 93 in February 2012. He is a nephew of the former Teachta Dála (TD) Vivion de Valera and is a first cousin of the former Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands minister Síle de Valera, and of Judge Aindrias Ó Caoimh.

He was born in Dublin and was educated at Oatlands College, Dublin and University College Dublin. Before entering politics, he was the manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development.

Surname

Ó Cuív's family surname was changed from Ó Caoimh by his grandfather Shán Ó Cuív, a Cork journalist. In the early 20th century Shán changed the spelling of his surname to conform to a simplified spelling system of his own invention which he called An Leitriú Shimplí. The letter 'v' is extremely rare in Irish outside modern loanwords, not being one of the 18 letters of the Irish alphabet.

National politics

Ó Cuív first stood for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election, in the Galway West constituency, where he was the last-placed of the four Fianna Fáil candidates, only two of whom were elected. He did better in the 1989 general election, substantially increasing his share of the first-preference votes, but was the only one of the three Fianna Fáil candidates not to be elected.

He was then elected to the 19th Seanad on the Cultural and Educational Panel. He served there until the 1992 general election, when he finally became a TD for Galway West. His vote had increased significantly and he was elected on the first count, coming a close second for Fianna Fáil behind the Labour Party's Michael D. Higgins. At the 1997 general election, he was again elected in second place on the first count, this time being narrowly behind his Fianna Fáil colleague Frank Fahey. At the 2002 general election he comfortably topped the poll, with over 20% of the first-preference votes. Ó Cuív again topped the poll in Galway West at the 2007 general election.

In 1994 Ó Cuív raised a few eyebrows in Fianna Fáil circles when he argued for a conditional return to the Commonwealth of Nations as a gesture to Unionists in Northern Ireland. However, a straw poll of backbench Fianna Fáil TDs in 1998 showed that this had little support.

Ministerial career

Ó Cuív did not reach ministerial office in his first term in Dáil Éireann, but in 1997 (at the start of the 28th Dáil) he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, serving under his cousin Síle de Valera who was the senior minister at the Department. Following the 2002 general election he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

He publicly spoke of voting "No" in the first referendum on the Nice Treaty. This public admission caused controversy as his party colleagues had called for a "Yes" vote.

He is widely credited with responsibility for the Official Languages Act, which created the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga.

Ó Cuív was at the centre of a controversy surrounding the official name of An Daingean / Dingle, a small Gaeltacht town in west County Kerry. The residents of the town held a plebiscite in November 2006 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, but then said that the name could not legally be changed back to Dingle, following advice from the Office of the Attorney General.

In 2007 Ó Cuív again called for Ireland to return to the Commonwealth as a full member state, in light of the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland and the meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Belfast.

In July 2009 Ó Cuív used a government helicopter to open a playground, at the cost of €10,000. On 23 March 2010, following a cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed as Minister for Social Protection. After the resignation of Tony Killeen in January 2011, Ó Cuív was also appointed as Minister for Defence, and he was also appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government after John Gormley's resignation days later. On 22 January 2011, after the resignation of Fianna Fáil leader Brian Cowen, Ó Cuív stated that he wished to be a candidate in the resulting election for the leadership of Fianna Fáil. He confirmed this on the TG4 News.

Opposition

Ó Cuiv was the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources after Fianna Fáil were ousted from power at the 2011 general election. On 8 August 2011, party leader Micheál Martin named Ó Cuiv as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, replacing Brian Lenihan.

On 29 February 2012 Ó Cuív resigned as Fianna Fáil's deputy leader and Communications spokesperson. He resigned from these positions due to dissatisfaction with his party's position on the Fiscal Compact Referendum. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin stated that Ó Cuív would face expulsion from the parliamentary party if he did not vote with the party on the Fiscal Compact in the Dáil. Coming just a week before their party conference, Ó Cuív's resignation caused a split down the middle of the Fianna Fáil party.

On 12 July 2012 Ó Cuív was reappointed to the Fianna Fáil front bench as spokesperson on Agriculture and Food, and on Community Affairs. The post of deputy leader was not filled in the reshuffle.