Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs

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The Minister for Foreign Affairs is one of the most important ministerial positions in the Irish cabinet. The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Dermot Ahern. He has overall responsibility for the conduct of Ireland's relations with other States. The Minister is assisted by two Ministers of State: one who has reponsibility for European Affairs, and a second who has special responsibiltity for Overseas Development & Human Rights. Within the Department there are a number of a number of divisions:

Anglo-Irish Division - deals with Anglo-Irish relations and Northern Ireland.
Cultural Division - administers Ireland's Cultural Relations Programme.
European Union Division - coordinates Ireland's approach within the EU.
Passport and Consular Division - is responsible for the issuing of passports to Irish citizens.
Political Division - is responsible for international political issues and manages Ireland's participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Protocol Division - is responsible for the organisation and management of visits of VIPs to Ireland and of visits abroad by the President.

Contents

1 Minister for External Affairs 1919-1971

2 Minister for Foreign Affairs 1971-present

2.1 Footnotes

3 See also

Minister for External Affairs 1919-1971

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1.	Count Plunkett	January 22, 1919	August 26, 1921	Sinn Féin
2.	Arthur Griffith (1st time)	August 22, 1921	January 9, 1922	Sinn Féin
3.	George Gavan Duffy	January 10, 1922	July 25, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
	Arthur Griffith (2nd time)	July 26, 1922	August 12, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
4.	Michael Hayes	August 21, 1922	September 9, 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
5.	Desmond FitzGerald	August 30, 1922	June 23, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
6.	Kevin O'Higgins	June 23, 1927	July 10, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
7.	W.T. Cosgrave (acting)	July 10, 1927	October 11, 1927	Cumann na nGaedhael
8.	Patrick McGilligan	October 11, 1927	March 9, 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael
9.	Eamon de Valera¹	March 9, 1932	February 18, 1948	Fianna Fáil
10.	Seán MacBride	February 18, 1948	June 13, 1951	Clann na Poblachta
11.	Frank Aiken (1st time)	June 13, 1951	June 2, 1954	Fianna Fáil
10.	Liam Cosgrave	June 2, 1954	March 20, 1957	Fine Gael
	Frank Aiken (2nd time)	March 20, 1957	July 2, 1969	Fianna Fáil
12.	Patrick Hillery	July 2, 1969	March 3, 1971	Fianna Fáil

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1971-present

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Patrick Hillery	March 3, 1971	January 3, 1973	Fianna Fáil
13.	Brian Lenihan (1st time)	January 3, 1973	March 14, 1973	Fianna Fáil
14.	Garret FitzGerald	March 14, 1973	July 5, 1977	Fine Gael
15.	Michael O'Kennedy	July 5, 1977	December 11, 1979	Fianna Fáil
	Brian Lenihan (2nd time)	December 12, 1979	June 30, 1981	Fianna Fáil
16.	John Kelly²	June 30, 1981	October 21, 1981	Fine Gael
17.	James Dooge	October 21, 1981	March 9, 1982	Fine Gael
18.	Gerard Collins (1st time)	March 9, 1982	December 14, 1982	Fianna Fáil
19.	Peter Barry³	December 14, 1982	March 10, 1987	Fine Gael
	Brian Lenihan (3rd time)	March 10, 1987	July 12, 1989	Fianna Fáil
	Gerard Collins (2nd time)	July 12, 1989	February 11, 1992	Fianna Fáil
20.	David Andrews (1st time)	February 11, 1992	January 12, 1993	Fianna Fáil
21.	Dick Spring (1st time)	January 12, 1993	November 17, 1994	Labour
22.	Albert Reynolds (acting)	November 18, 1994	December 15, 1994	Fianna Fáil
.	Dick Spring (2nd time)	December 15, 1994	June 26, 1997	Labour
23.	Ray Burke	June 26, 1997	October 7, 1997	Fianna Fáil
	David Andrews (2nd time)	October 8, 1997	January 27, 2000	Fianna Fáil
24.	Brian Cowen	January 27, 2000	September 29, 2004	Fianna Fáil
25.	Dermot Ahern	September 29, 2004	(still in office)	Fianna Fáil

Footnotes

Eamon de Valera, who was head of government (President of the Executive Council until 1937, renamed Taoiseach in 1937) served as his own foreign minister.
When Garret FitzGerald formed a government in mid 1981 he announced that he would be appointing James Dooge to be a senator and once in office would make him minister. However as the appointment could not be made until Seanad Éireann's general election had taken place (which would be a few weeks), in the interim the Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism, John M. Kelly, would act as minister.
When Labour withdrew from cabinet in early 1987, a new interim cabinet, made up simply of the outgoing Fine Gael ministers, was formed. Peter Barry continued on as Foreign Minister in that shortlived Fine Gael cabinet.