Helen McEntee

McEntee was selected to stand as the Fine Gael candidate in the Meath East by-election during a party convention held at the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells on 7 March 2013. She was the only nominee whose name went forward to contest the seat, and the only woman among eleven candidates in the by-election itself.[3][16] During her campaign, McEntee expressed her wish to continue her father's work while seeking to be "a young fresh voice", and focused on issues such as emigration, employment, and supporting local business.[6][17] She was joined on the campaign trail by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was confronted at a supermarket in Ratoath by an officer of the Garda Síochána angered at having to accept a pay cut because of austerity measures introduced by the government.[18] McEntee participated in a televised debate on RTÉ One's Primetime on 25 March, along with Fianna Fáil candidate Thomas Byrne, Labour’s Eoin Holmes, and Sinn Féin’s Darren O’Rourke.[19]

She was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann in the by-election held on 27 March 2013, defeating Byrne (previously a TD for the constituency) with 9,356 first preference votes compared to 8,002 for Byrne.[20][21] In retaining the seat for Fine Gael she became the first candidate to win a by-election for the party while in government since Taoiseach Kenny succeeded his father as a TD in 1975.[22] McEntee became the second youngest TD (after Simon Harris) and the youngest female TD in the 31st Dáil.[3][23] During the election campaign, Seamus Morris, a Sinn Féin North Tipperary County Councillor, accused the McEntee family of putting their grief to one side to keep their "snouts in the trough".[24][25] Morris posted the comments on Facebook, but later withdrew them when they were published on the front page of the Irish Daily Mail, and issued an apology; Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called the remarks "entirely inappropriate".[24][25]

McEntee took her seat in the Dáil on 16 April 2013, where she received a standing ovation upon entering the debating chamber, and was welcomed by Taoiseach Kenny, as well as other political leaders.[26] She described taking up the seat vacated by her father as "a huge honour", and said that it was an "emotional day for all the McEntee family".[27] The Irish Independent later reported that she had "impressed many...[by her] manner and choice of words to the media as she arrived at Leinster House. 'I drove down to the graveside this morning and had a few words. I think he [her father] called into Michael Collins the morning of his first day, so I called into my hero.'"[28] McEntee gave her maiden speech to the Dáil on 8 May 2013, during a debate about that year's fodder shortage caused by cold spring weather, praising Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney's handling of the issue.[29][30][31] She was subsequently appointed to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, and the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht.[32]

She spent much of her first term focusing on constituency issues,[33] among them championing the 2013 Pyrite Resolution Act, a €50m compensation scheme for homes affected by the use of pyrite in their construction. She also secured funding for the Slane bypass, as well as increased funding for schools and local community sports projects. In addition, McEntee campaigned for improvements to mobile broadband coverage in Meath, and was a vocal supporter of the local agricultural industry. She campaigned for a yes vote in the 2015 referendum concerning the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland, and voted in favour of the proposed abolition of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Irish parliament.[3][7][11][34] Following a random audit of 22 members of the Oireachtas in 2014, she was one of five politicians required to repay expenses they had claimed that had been declared ineligible. She described the episode, which resulted in her having to repay €1,675.88 of expenses, as being a result of "human error".[33][35]

McEntee contested the Meath East constituency in the 2016 general election, where she was one of two sitting Fine Gael deputies defending Dáil seats.[36][37] Elaine Loughlin of the Irish Examiner noted that despite her relatively short time representing the constituency, McEntee had been "visible on the ground, attending community meetings and events", and suggested she would benefit from this at the forthcoming poll, particularly as she had enjoyed a greater presence than her colleagues. Newstalk radio presenter Ivan Yates forecast a win for Fianna Fáil in an area that falls into the Dublin commuter belt, but felt that McEntee would hold on to her seat because she is from the largely rural north of the constituency.[38][39]

McEntee was re-elected to represent Meath East at the election, held on 26 February.[40] She secured a seat in the Dáil on the eighth count, despite not reaching the 50% quota required under STV rules.[40]

In the aftermath of an election that had produced no overall winner, and as Fine Gael parliamentary party secretary, McEntee voiced her support for a proposed Fine Gael–Fianna Fáil coalition, which had been put forward by Kenny and other senior party figures. The move was backed by Fine Gael's backbench TDs at a meeting on 7 April, but rejected by Fianna Fáil. McEntee described the proposal as "an historic offer, representing seismic change in the political landscape".[41][42] She also participated in an internal party inquiry into Fine Gael's poor election performance, as part of a team of TDs who spoke to unsuccessful candidates, but stood down from this position upon her appointment as a junior minister.[43]

Kenny formed a minority government after securing the support of several Independent TDs,[44] and on 19 May 2016, appointed McEntee as Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People.[45][46][47]

One of her first acts in the post was to help launch an Irish Council for Civil Liberties booklet offering advice to older people on their rights concerning retirement, access to health and community care, pensions, and elder abuse.[48] Shortly after this, she was faced with one of her first major tasks when she was called on to play a role in helping to wind up the affairs of Console, a suicide bereavement counselling charity, after the organisation was plunged into crisis by a scandal involving the misuse of funds. McEntee worked with the charity's chief executive to ensure the services it provided would continue to be available.[15] Console's functions were taken over by Pieta House in July 2016.[49]

On 2 June, and in response to a question from Fianna Fáil's James Browne about government spending on mental health, McEntee told the Dáil the government was committed to an annual increase in funding; Browne had noted that in 2014, €20 million had been allocated to mental health services rather than the promised €35 million, but McEntee said that €35 million had been ringfenced for 2016 and 2017.[50] Along with Minister for Health Simon Harris, McEntee argued for the restoration of €12 million originally ringfenced for mental health spending that had been diverted to other areas. On 8 June, and as part of a €480m bailout package for health, the government announced that the mental health funding would be restored. Welcoming the decision, McEntee said the money would be used for staff recruitment and to improve services for homeless people, as well as developing perinatal mental health services.[51][52]

On 28 July 2016, the government approved the establishment of a youth mental health task force, a body seeking to increase the awareness of mental health issues among children and young people.[53] On 4 August, McEntee announced the make-up of the committee, to be chaired by herself, which would include people from professions such as politics, health, mental health, charities, and sport. She also announced the establishment of a Young Persons’ Reference Group, co-chaired by singer Niall Breslin and mental health adviser Emma Farrell. Speaking about the initiative, McEntee said that its work would "ensure that the voices of our young people are at the core of a more open, more engaging, more supportive national conversation about mental health and wellbeing".[54] The National Taskforce on Youth Mental Health had its inaugural meeting in September.[55]

Helen McEntee with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald MEP at the 2019 EPP Congress in Zagreb

After Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as Taoiseach in June 2017, McEntee was appointed as Minister of State for European Affairs,[56] a role with some involvement in the United Kingdom's Brexit process.[57][58] She was one of seven women appointed to Varadkar's government.[59] Shortly after taking up the position, she travelled with Varadkar to Brussels for a European Council meeting, which included talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her team.[60] In September 2017, she addressed a conference at Dublin City University to mark the foundation of the university's Brexit Institute. The event was also attended by UK Labour Party politician Hilary Armstrong.[61]

In January 2019, Helen McEntee told the BBC the Irish backstop was absolutely necessary, because of the UK's red lines on leaving the European single market and European customs union, to avoid a hard Border and protect the Northern Ireland peace process. She called on the UK to live up to its obligations of the Good Friday Agreement.[62]

McEntee was elected as Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP) in November 2019, at the party's Congress in Zagreb.

McEntee at a summit in Brussels as Ireland's Minister for European Affairs

On the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach in June 2020, Helen McEntee became Minister for Justice as part of a coalition government composed of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.[63] She is the fourth female Minister for Justice in the history of the State.[64]

McEntee takes her seat in the Convention Centre Dublin for the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach

As Minister for Justice, McEntee oversaw the passage of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill, 2017,[65] which had initially been introduced by Labour deputy Brendan Howlin, following the death of a 21-year-old girl who took her own life after she was bullied on social media. The Bill, which was signed into law in December 2020, makes online harassment and the sharing of personal, intimate images (including revenge porn) a criminal offence. [66] In December 2020, McEntee announced the government's plans to introduce hate speech legislation in Ireland.[67]

Helen McEntee is seen by some as a potential future leader of the Fine Gael party. [68]