Josepha Madigan

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

Josepha Madigan

TD
Madigan in 2016
Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion
Assumed office
1 July 2020
TaoiseachMicheál Martin
Preceded byNew office
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
Assumed office
February 2016
ConstituencyDublin Rathdown
Personal details
Born (1970-05-21) 21 May 1970
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyFine Gael
Spouse(s)Finbarr Hayes (m. 2002)
Children2
EducationMount Anville
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
Websitejosephamadigan.ie

Early and personal life

Madigan was born in Dublin in 1969.[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 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 and is a previous Council member of the MII. She is a former Specialist Liaison Officer for Family Mediation in the MII.[7]

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.[8]

Political career

County Councillor (2014–2016)

Madigan served as a Councillor for the Stillorgan Ward on Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, from May 2014 until her election as a TD in 2016. [9]

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".[10][11]

Dáil Éireann

Madigan was elected to Dáil Éireann following the 2016 general election as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin Rathdown constituency, beating sitting Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter by nearly 1,000 votes.

She was appointed Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight in July 2017.[12]

Madigan was three weeks a TD, when she was asked to participate in the 2016 government formation talks.

Prior to becoming a minister, she was an active member of the Public Accounts Committee. She also brought forward 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. [13]

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.[14]

On 29 March 2018, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appointed Madigan as the coordinator for the Fine Gael Yes campaign in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.[15]

She was re-elected in February 2020, taking the third seat behind Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin and party colleague Neale Richmond. On 1 July 2020, Madigan was appointed Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.[16] On 14 January 2021, Madigan came under fire for describing children without additional needs as ‘normal’ while speaking in the Dáil. [17]

"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.” [18] 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. [19]

"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."

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.[20][21][22] 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.[21][23] In July 2019, an internal unpublished Fine Gael probe into the affair cleared Madigan of any wrongdoing in regard to the claim.[24][25] 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".[26] It was also reported that Madigan's firm would earn Euro 11,500 in fees if the Maria Baily case had been successful.[27]

References
  1. Madigan, Josepha (21 May 2018). "Great to spend some time on my birthday with these two wonderful authors".
  2. "Profile: Rise from councillor to Cabinet in two years". independent.
  3. "Josepha Madigan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. http://www.josephamadigan.ie/about-josepha/
  5. "What you need to know about the new Culture Minister". RTÉ News. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  6. "Josepha Madigan, the new face of Fine Gael". UniversityTimes.ie. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  7. "Mediators' Institute congratulates mediator on election to Dáil". Irish Legal News. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  8. "Profile: Josepha Madigan (FG)". The Irish Times. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  9. "Josepha Madigan". Fine Gael. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  10. 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. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. "Josepha Madigan: 'Why I'm standing over my Traveller site views'". Sunday Independent. 6 December 2015.
  12. "Josepha Madigan". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  13. "Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Act 2019 – No. C38 of 2019 – Houses of the Oireachtas". Houses of the Oireachtas - oireachtas.ie. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  14. "Taoiseach names Simon Coveney as new Tánaiste". RTÉ News. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  15. McQuinn, Cormac (5 April 2018). "'My support for abortion is not at odds with my faith' - Madigan". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  16. "Minister of State Appointments". MerrionStreet.ie. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  17. Casey, Jess (14 January 2021). "Minister for Special Education describes children without additional needs as 'normal'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  18. Madigan, Josepha (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". Twitter. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  19. Moore, Aoife (20 January 2021). "Josepha Madigan apologises for comparing SNAs fallout to mother and baby homes". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  20. Rory Carroll (28 May 2019). "Voters cry foul over politician's fall from swing in Dublin bar". The Guardian. 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.
  21. Fiachra Ó Cionnaith (25 May 2019). "Josepha Madigan says TD's swing compensation case 'nothing to do with me'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  22. Hugh O'Connell (26 July 2019). "Questions for Madigan as FG struggles with Bailey saga". Irish Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  23. Jack Horgan-Jones (24 July 2019). "Josepha Madigan needs to clarify her involvement in Maria Bailey case, says Martin". Irish Times. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  24. "Maria Bailey: Swing fall case TD demoted by Leo Varadkar". BBC News. 23 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.
  25. "Josepha Madigan 'is cleared of wrongdoing' in probe over Maria Bailey swing fall case". Irish Independent. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  26. Cormac MacQuinn (27 July 2019). "Profile: Rise from councillor to Cabinet in two years". Irish Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  27. Cormac McQuinn (27 July 2019). "Madigan's family's law firm in line for €11,500 if Bailey case was won". Irish Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
Oireachtas
Preceded by
Heather Humphreys		 Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
2017–2020		 Succeeded by
Catherine Martin
New office Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion
2020–present		 Incumbent
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