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Josepha Madigan

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Josepha Madigan
Madigan in 2017
Minister of State
2020–2024Education
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
In office
30 November 2017 – 27 June 2020
TaoiseachLeo Varadkar
Preceded byHeather Humphreys
Succeeded byCatherine Martin
Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight
In office
8 July 2016 – 30 November 2017
Preceded byJohn Paul Phelan
Succeeded byColm Brophy
Teachta Dála
In office
February 2016 – November 2024
ConstituencyDublin Rathdown
Personal details
Born (1970-05-21) 21 May 1970 (age 54)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partyFine Gael
Spouse
Finbarr Hayes
​
(m. 2002)​
Children2
EducationMount Anville
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
Websitejosephamadigan.ie

Josepha Madigan (born 21 May 1970)[1][2] is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion from July 2020 to March 2024. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2016 to 2024. She served as Minister for Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht from November 2017 to June 2020, and as Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight from July 2016 to November 2017.[3]

Early and personal life

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Madigan was born in Dublin in 1970.[4] She attended Mount Anville Secondary School and Trinity College Dublin. She is married to Finbarr Hayes, and they have two children. Her father, Patrick Madigan, was a Fianna Fáil County Councillor in Dublin, her mother, Patricia Madigan, was a barrister who had a background in Fine Gael.[5][6] She and her family live in Mount Merrion. Madigan is a survivor of sexual assault.[7]

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Madigan is a qualified solicitor, who practised in family law for twenty years, prior to her election to Dáil Éireann. She is also certified as a mediator by the Mediators' Institute of Ireland (MII) and is a previous Council member of the MII. She is a former Specialist Liaison Officer for Family Mediation in the MII.[8]

Madigan is the author of the first book in Ireland on mediation: Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Ireland, a handbook for family lawyers and their clients (Jordan Publishing, 2012). She has also self-published a novel called Negligent Behaviour.[9]

Political career

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County Councillor (2014–2016)

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Madigan served as a councillor for the local electoral area of Stillorgan on Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, from May 2014 until her election as a TD in 2016.[10]

Madigan issued a leaflet in 2014 claimed that providing accommodation for Travellers in her constituency would be "a waste of valuable resources". When asked about this later, Madigan claimed "Some people won't want to live beside people in halting sites [...] there might be more crime, that there might be anti-social behaviour".[11][12]

Dáil Éireann

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Madigan was elected to the 32nd Dáil at the 2016 general election as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin Rathdown constituency, defeating sitting Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter by nearly 1,000 votes. She was appointed Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight in July 2017.[13]

She was a member of the Public Accounts Committee. She introduced a private member's bill to reduce the waiting time for divorce in Ireland from four years to two, which was passed by the Dáil.[14]

On 30 November 2017, Madigan was appointed to the cabinet as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in a reshuffle following the resignation of the Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald.[15]

On 29 March 2018, Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar appointed Madigan as the coordinator for the party's Yes campaign in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.[16]

She was re-elected at the 2020 general election, taking the third seat behind Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin and party colleague Neale Richmond. On 1 July 2020, Madigan was appointed by the new government as Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for special education and inclusion.[17] On 14 January 2021, Madigan came under fire for describing children without additional needs as 'normal' while speaking in the Dáil.[18] "We all know that even for normal children remote teaching is difficult but for children who have additional needs it is particularly difficult," she said. Later that day on Twitter, the minister said she 'sincerely apologises for the language she used.' "It is absolutely not what I meant to say."[19]

On 20 January 2021, speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Madigan compared children with additional needs not attending school to the mother and baby homes.[20] "We've spent the last week talking about mother and baby homes, where our most vulnerable were left to their own devices in less than satisfactory conditions and we're now allowing further anxiety and upset to be placed on the shoulders of parents whose children desperately need to go back to school." The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Related Matters was published the week prior to Madigan's comments. Madigan later apologised in a statement: "I am, as are all involved in supporting these children [children with additional needs], passionate about vindicating their rights and in reaching for an analogy I chose poorly. I apologise fully."

Shortly after the first report of the Creeslough explosion on 7 October 2022, Madigan tweeted that she hoped "they find the culprits" and, after being criticised as irresponsible and insensitive, Madigan quickly deleted the tweet.[21]

On 22 March 2024, Madigan announced that she would resign as Minister of State and would not contest the next general election.[22]

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See also: Maria Bailey § Legal claim

In 2019, Madigan received widespread coverage for her role in the personal injury legal claim of Fine Gael politician, Maria Bailey.[23][24][25] It was alleged that Madigan's law practice, Madigan Solicitors, advised Bailey on her claim, however, Madigan refused to make any comments on this citing client-solicitor confidentiality.[24][26] In July 2019, an internal unpublished Fine Gael probe into the affair cleared Madigan of any wrongdoing in regard to the claim.[27][28] In late July 2019, the Irish Independent reported that "it is now known that she advised Ms Bailey in the early stages of the claim".[29] It was also reported that Madigan's firm would earn €11,500 in fees if the Maria Bailey case had been successful.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Madigan, Josepha (21 May 2018). "Great to spend some time on my birthday with these two wonderful authors". Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Profile: Rise from councillor to Cabinet in two years". independent. 27 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Josepha Madigan". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. ^ "About Josepha". Josephamadigan.ie. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  5. ^ "What you need to know about the new Culture Minister". RTÉ News. 1 December 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Josepha Madigan, the new face of Fine Gael". UniversityTimes.ie. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Minister of State Josepha Magidan tells Dáil she is survivor of sexual assault". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 6 July 2021. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Mediators' Institute congratulates mediator on election to Dáil". Irish Legal News. 2 March 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Profile: Josepha Madigan (FG)". The Irish Times. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Josepha Madigan". Fine Gael. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. ^ McQuinn, Cormac (3 December 2017). "New Minister Madigan insists she is 'absolutely not anti-Traveller' and that 2014 newsletter contents were 'widely misrepresented'". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Josepha Madigan: 'Why I'm standing over my Traveller site views'". Sunday Independent. 6 December 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Josepha Madigan". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  14. ^ "Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Act 2019 – No. C38 of 2019". Houses of the Oireachtas. 6 July 2016. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Taoiseach names Simon Coveney as new Tánaiste". RTÉ News. 30 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  16. ^ McQuinn, Cormac (5 April 2018). "'My support for abortion is not at odds with my faith' - Madigan". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Minister of State Appointments". MerrionStreet.ie. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  18. ^ Casey, Jess (14 January 2021). "Minister for Special Education describes children without additional needs as 'normal'". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  19. ^ Madigan, Josepha [@JosephaMadigan] (14 January 2021). "I sincerely apologise for my language. It is absolutely not what I meant to say. Looking forward to continued cooperation into the future" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Moore, Aoife (20 January 2021). "Josepha Madigan apologises for comparing SNAs fallout to mother and baby homes". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  21. ^ Drennan, John (10 October 2022). "Josepha Madigan under fire over strange tweet following Creeslough tragedy". Extra.ie. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  22. ^ McAuley, Eimer (22 March 2024). "Josepha Madigan unexpectedly resigns as Junior Minister and will not stand in next election". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  23. ^ Rory Carroll (28 May 2019). "Voters cry foul over politician's fall from swing in Dublin bar". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019. More details emerged. Three weeks after the fall Bailey competed in a 10km run. She hired the law firm of a government minister, Josepha Madigan, to pursue the case. The claim omitted mention of her holding bottles while on the swing.
  24. ^ a b Fiachra Ó Cionnaith (25 May 2019). "Josepha Madigan says TD's swing compensation case 'nothing to do with me'". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  25. ^ Hugh O'Connell (26 July 2019). "Questions for Madigan as FG struggles with Bailey saga". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  26. ^ Jack Horgan-Jones (24 July 2019). "Josepha Madigan needs to clarify her involvement in Maria Bailey case, says Martin". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  27. ^ "Maria Bailey: Swing fall case TD demoted by Leo Varadkar". BBC News. 23 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019. Mr Varadkar said that while Ms Madigan had given her colleague initial legal advice, the case was passed on to another member of her legal firm who told her on a number of occasions that while she had a "statable" case, a finding of contributory negligence against her was also likely.
  28. ^ "Josepha Madigan 'is cleared of wrongdoing' in probe over Maria Bailey swing fall case". Irish Independent. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  29. ^ Cormac MacQuinn (27 July 2019). "Profile: Rise from councillor to Cabinet in two years". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  30. ^ Cormac McQuinn (27 July 2019). "Madigan's family's law firm in line for €11,500 if Bailey case was won". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
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Oireachtas
Preceded by Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2017–2020 		Succeeded by
New office Minister of State at the Department of Education
2020–2024 		Succeeded by
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