Hours before Storm Éowyn swept the country, Fianna Fail’s Dara Calleary was given responsibility for supporting communities. The Ballina native was appointed as Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht on January 23 by newly elected Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
As on previous occasions when storms have struck, community groups, local development companies and local authorities will play an active role in checking in on and supporting the most vulnerable. The Minister got stuck in on day one announcing details about emergency funding for households (subject to income-tests) impacted by the storm.*
His appointment is being celebrated in Mayo which has now seen two TDs in eight years take the helm and is a relief to those who value the work of the Department of Rural and Community Development, the smallest government department apart from the Department of the Taoiseach.

• A history of community in cabinet – Issue 70, Changing Ireland, November 2020. Zoom in to read.
Return to ‘Craggy’
The Constitution limits the government to 15 senior ministers and under the previous government Heather Humphreys headed up two departments – the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development. The former has a 2025 budget of €26.9 billion while the latter has a budget of €472 million.
Amid recent speculation that a new Department for Infrastructure could be established, there were concerns that the Department of Rural and Community Development could be broken up and its parts scattered among various ministries. Instead, the Department has grown in size and stature with the addition of Gaeltacht affairs, harking back to the 2002 to 2010 department configuration inaugurated by Galway’s Éamon Ó Cuív when he was Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Its acronym DRCGA and its western leadership led to Ó Cuív’s department being nicknamed ‘Craggy’. While ‘Dee-Are-See-Dee-Gee’ (DRCDG) doesn’t have the same ring to it, the department names and configurations are comparable.
Calleary, aged 51, is also a West of Irelander. He attended St. Murdach’s College secondary school overlooking the River Moy in Ballina and later studied at Trinity College Dublin before taking on a role for the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

• Recently Dara Calleary revisited his schooldays by dropping in to meet Leaving Cert students in St. Muredach’s College in Ballina.
Calleary’s political career
His political path follows that of his father Seán and his grandfather Phelim who between them served as Mayo TDs for 36 years between 1952 and 1992.
He was first elected in 2007 and has served as a minister of state in multiple roles and as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for one month.
Shortly after being appointed to agriculture in July 2020, during the pandemic, he joined 80 other guests for an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden which upset the public who were striving to adhere to strict Covid-19 guidelines. Calleary did the honourable thing when the controversy broke and resigned the following morning.
In August 2022, he was reappointed as a minister of state with responsibility for trade promotion, digital and company regulation.
Rural and Community Development

• Dara Calleary with staff and supporters of Leitrim Development Company last year as they celebrated 20 years of the Rural Social Scheme. The organisation has welcomed his appointment as minister.
Political commentators like to point to the Department of Rural and Community Development as a good news department for the office-holder as it allows them to make regular funding announcements for communities nationwide. This overlooks the Department’s serious responsibilities developing policy and national programmes that aim to reduce poverty, promote capacity at local level, empower communities and give people on the margins a voice locally and nationally.
In recent years the Department also took on an important role in promoting integration at community level as war refugees and asylum-seekers from various countries made their way to Ireland. It is also responsible for supporting offshore islands – most of which are in the West.
Calleary will be familiar with the Department of Rural and Community Development because Ballina has hosted department staff since partial decentralisation a decade and more ago.
Junior ministers yet to be announced
This government will have 23 junior ministers (the population has increased as has the number of TDs) and Calleary will presumably have at least one junior minister to support him. He takes on a busy portfolio with the addition of Gaeltacht affairs.
However, Conradh na Gaeilge has already stated it sees no need for a junior minister for the Gaeltacht as Calleary is from a Gaeltacht county, is fluent and is experienced.
CnaG’s Julian de Spáinn said:
“Más é Dara Calleary an t-aire sinsearach níl aon ghá le haire stáit don Ghaeltacht – tá an saineolas, an tuiscint agus an taithí aige. Is ó chontae Gaeltachta é, tá gach rud a theastaíonn ó aire Gaeltachta aige.”

• Conradh na Gaeilge says of Calleary – “Tá an saineolas, an tuiscint agus an taithí aige”
Four so-called ‘super-junior’ ministers, who are allowed attend cabinet meetings, have been named, while most junior ministerial appointments have yet to be announced by the Taoiseach.
Policy development since 2017
The junior minister with responsibility under the previous government for community development, charities and some areas of integration was Joe O’Brien from the Green Party. He had previously worked as a community worker and he made a point of spending one to two days a fortnight touring every county in the state to meet community groups. This equitable approach to connecting with and highlighting work at local level took him two years and was much appreciated.
Nationally, O’Brien and Humphreys progressed work begun under the stewardship of the previous Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring (from Westport) by developing policy in areas such as social enterprise, social inclusion, charities regulation and – most recently – philanthropy.

• Minister of State Joe O’Brien opening Limerick Travellers Network in 2023 – while Minister Heather Humphreys promotes LEADER in 2018 with staff from the Department of Rural and Community Development at the Ploughing. Photos by Changing Ireland.
Appointment welcomed
Calleary’s appointment has been welcomed by, among others, the Irish Local Development Network which issued a statement today:
“Although LDCs’ work with several government departments, those now coming under the leadership of Minister Calleary are of particular importance to the communities we work with and for. We were very happy to have Minister Calleary join us for Local Development Week in 2024, and we look forward to supporting him in this important work,” it said.

• L-to-R – Carol Baumann, CEO of the ILDN, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, chair, South West Mayo Development, chatting with then minister of state Dara Calleary during Local Development Week in September, 2024. Photo by Changing Ireland.
The Western Development Commission also recalled previous work with Minister Calleary, saying:
“As a proud Mayo man, he brings a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities facing our region.”
Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland welcomed the appointment saying they met with Calleary in October and were “very encouraged by his understanding of, and engagement with, the social enterprise sector”.
If Storm Éowyn got the minister off to a challenging start, let’s hope it’s a breeze for him and the communities he supports from here on in.

• Pictured in April 2018 – then Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring officially launched the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme. Photo by Changing Ireland.

• Pictured in 2004 – then Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, addressing community groups. Photo by Changing Ireland.
* Dara Calleary, as Minister for Social Protection, today confirmed that the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme will be available to provide support to those living in properties directly affected by Storm Éowyn. Support is subject to income thresholds. The minister also drew attention to the role played by Community Welfare Services staff to support people impacted by the storm. Full details here: https://www.gov.ie/ga/preasraitis/eabf4-minister-xxxx-announces-availability-of-the-humanitarian-assistance-scheme-to-support-those-householders-affected-by-storm-eowyn/