Eoghan Murphy
Murphy in 2014
Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government
In office
14 June 2017 – 27 June 2020
TaoiseachLeo Varadkar
Preceded bySimon Coveney
Succeeded byDarragh O'Brien
Minister of State
2016–2017Finance
2016–2017Public Expenditure and Reform
Teachta Dála
In office
February 2016 – 27 April 2021
ConstituencyDublin Bay South
In office
February 2011 – February 2016
ConstituencyDublin South-East
Personal details
Born (1982-04-23) 23 April 1982
Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland
Political partyFine Gael
RelativesKillian Scott (brother)
EducationSt Michael's College, Dublin
Alma mater

Eoghan Murphy (born 23 April 1982) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for ten years, from 2011 until 27 April 2021, respresenting the Dublin Bay South constituency (previously named Dublin South-East).[1] He served as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government from 2017 to 2020 and as Minister of State for Financial Services from 2016 to 2017.[2] In 2021, he served as Head of Mission on election observation missions to Armenia, Uzbekistan, Italy and Kazakhstan on behalf of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE).[3]

Early life and education

Born in Dublin, Murphy attended primary school at Star of the Sea Sandymount and secondary school at St Michael's College. He went on to study at University College Dublin (BA, English & Philosophy), and King's College London (MA, International Relations).[4][5] In 2013, he was awarded a Marshall Memorial Fellowship.[6]

His father Henry is a retired senior counsel and author. His brothers Cillian (the actor known as Killian Scott) and Colin, a playwright and journalist, have forged successful careers in the arts.[7][8]

He dated jewellery designer Chloe Townsend, but according to Evoke, they split in 2019.[9] In 2021, he revealed that an ex-girlfriend received verbal abuse during his term as a government minister.[10]

Career

Arms control

Prior to entering politics, Murphy worked in international arms control, specifically in the area of nuclear weapons disarmament. He has worked for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva, Switzerland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin, and before his election to Dublin City Council, he was working as a speechwriter for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria.[11] In a 2015 Dáil debate on Irish neutrality, Murphy supported ending the triple lock requirement for Irish military deployment to have United Nations Security Council support, on the ground that it makes Ireland subject to Russia's veto power.[12][13]

Politics

Murphy stood in his first election in 2009 and topped the poll when he was elected to Dublin City Council at the 2009 local elections for the local electoral area of Pembroke–Rathmines.[14] He was 27 at the time.

At the 2011 general election, he was elected to the Irish parliament for the constituency of Dublin South-East, vacating his seat on the council. In the 31st Dáil, he sat on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), then regarded as the foremost Oireachtas Committee due to its special powers, and subsequently served on the Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis, established to examine the causes of Ireland's property-driven banking collapse which resulted in a national bailout. When that inquiry almost collapsed Murphy, together with Senator Susan O'Keeffe, was asked by their colleagues to rescue the final report, which was published in January 2016.[15]

In his first term he also led the Oireachtas delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, serving as a short-term observer to the Russian presidential election in 2012, and as Special Co-Ordinator for the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in 2013.[16]

In 2013, Murphy self-published "Reforming Dáil Eireann: A View from the Backbenches", a booklet containing a series of reforms which sought to strengthen the independence of parliament vis-a-vis government, implicitly criticising his own Party in government at the time: "But if the foundations of our democracy continue to be weak, whatever we build on them will be weaker.”[17][18]

At the 2016 general election, Murphy topped the poll in the redrawn constituency of Dublin Bay South, winning the second seat.

When the 2016 election failed to give any one party an outright majority, Murphy was drafted in by Enda Kenny to represent Fine Gael as a part of a small team heavily involved in talks with other parties and independents on the formation of a minority government.[19] He was subsequently appointed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the minority Fine Gael–Independent government as Minister of State at the Department of Finance and at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with responsibility for Financial Services, eGovernment and Public Procurement.[20][21]

When Enda Kenny announced his resignation as President of Fine Gael and Taoiseach in early 2017, Leo Varadkar appointed Murphy to run his parliamentary party campaign. Murphy was instrumental in orchestrating Varadkar’s successful election as President of Fine Gael and subsequently as Taoiseach.[22][23]

Following Leo Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach, Murphy was promoted to the cabinet, as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government in June 2017. On 25 September 2018, Murphy survived a motion of no confidence which had been tabled by Sinn Féin. The motion was defeated by 59 to 49 votes.[24] In December 2019, another motion of no confidence was tabled against Murphy, this time by the Social Democrats. The motion was defeated by 59 votes to 56.[25][26][27]

In the 2020 general election he was elected to the third seat in Dublin Bay South.[28][29] After the election he continued to serve as minister during the first phase of the Covid pandemic, instituting protections for rough sleepers, people in emergency accommodation and renters. At the formation of a new government on 27 June 2020 he announced that he was stepping back from ministerial politics to focus on reform of his party.[30] He resigned his seat in the Dáil in April 2021.

Election Observation

On 27 April 2021, Murphy resigned his seat in Dáil Éireann, and announced that he would return to working in international affairs.[31][1] That same year he began working with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), consulting for the election monitoring arm of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

In May 2021, Murphy was appointed as Head of Mission to the election observation mission to the early parliamentary elections in Armenia.[32] In September 2021, Murphy was appointed as Head of Mission to the election observation mission to the presidential election in Uzbekistan.[33]

Murphy returned to Armenia and Uzbekistan in 2022 to follow up on recommendations his team had made to further enhance the conduct of elections in both countries and to support efforts to bring them fully in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.[34][35]

In September 2022, Murphy was appointed as Head of Mission to the election assement mission to the parliamentary elections in Italy.[36]

More recently, in February 2023, Murphy was appointed Head of Mission to the early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan.[37]

References

  1. 1 2 "Former housing minister Eoghan Murphy resigns as TD for Dublin Bay South". thejournal.ie. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Eoghan Murphy". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Early Parliamentary Elections, 20 June 2021". osce.org. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "Vote Murphy #1" (PDF). Eoghan Murphy. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Leaflet from Eoghan Murphy -Fine Gael -Dublin Bay South #ge16". Irish Election Literature. 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Marshall Memorial Fellowship".
  7. ↑ "Political unknown who topped poll is grandson of disgraced accountant Labour's Byrne wins council seat FF results 'disappointing', says Martin 'Whiff of decay and rotting greens' Ahern never expected to win seat Miriam's little brother beats Ryan's". independent. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Eoghan Murphy: Influential figure who was still deemed a 'rising prospect'". www.irishtimes.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  9. ↑ Walsh, Niamh (8 December 2019). "Eoghan Murphy gives relationship with Chloe Townsend a vote of no confidence as the pair split". EVOKE.ie. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Condon, Orlaith (27 April 2021). "'That's not on!' Eoghan Murphy talks 'horrific abuse' ex-girlfriend received while he was in office". EVOKE.ie. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Eoghan Murphy". Fine Gael. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Dáil Debate on Neutrality Bill" (PDF). Eoghan Murphy TD. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Thirty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] – Dáil Éireann (31st Dáil) – Friday, 6 March 2015". Houses of the Oireachtas. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Eoghan Murphy". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "Report of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis". January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Head of the OSCE PA's Irish Delegation Eoghan Murphy to lead election observers in Bulgaria". www.oscepa.org. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  17. ↑ "Reforming Dail Eireann: A view from the backbenches" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "Free vote for TDs among radical proposals for Dáil reform". 18 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "Sounding out Murph but what about Paschal".
  20. ↑ "Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Thursday, 19 May 2016". Houses of the Oireachtas. 19 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  21. ↑ Collins, Stephen (19 May 2016). "Taoiseach appoints 16 Fine Gael TDs as junior ministers". The Irish Times. Dublin. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Team Varadkar delivers a masterclass in professional political campaigning".
  23. ↑ "The inside story of how Varadkar beat Coveney".
  24. ↑ "Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion [Private Members]". Houses of the Oireachtas. 25 September 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  25. ↑ "Govt survives motion of no-confidence in Murphy". RTÉ News. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  26. ↑ "Eoghan Murphy saved and Christmas election off the table as no confidence motion defeated". Journal. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  27. ↑ "Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]". Houses of the Oireachtas. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  28. ↑ "General Election 2020: Eoghan Murphy retains seat despite failing to reach quota in Dublin Bay South". www.dublinlive.ie. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  29. ↑ Cullen, Paul (10 February 2020). "Dublin Bay South results: Andrews says tent incident influenced voters". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  30. ↑ McConnell, Daniel (26 June 2020). "Eoghan Murphy will not take up ministerial role in next government". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  31. ↑ "Resignation of Member – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Wednesday, 28 April 2021". Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  32. ↑ O'Connell, Hugh (19 May 2021). "Former housing minister Eoghan Murphy has resurfaced in Armenia". Irish Independent. Dublin. ISSN 0021-1222. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  33. ↑ "Presidential election, 24 October 2021".
  34. ↑ "Alen Simonyan received the representatives of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission delegation".
  35. ↑ "Acting FM received a delegation of OSCE/ODIHR".
  36. ↑ "Italy 2022 early parliamentary elections: ODIHR election assessment mission final report".
  37. ↑ "ODIHR Starts Observation Mission in Kazakhstan ahead of Parliamentary Election".
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