Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne has been confirmed as the new Minister of State for Sport and has also been given an additional brief with responsibility for Physical Education being added to the role.
The 45-year-old Meath deputy is highly regarded and has previously served as minister of State for European Affairs in Brussels.
First elected to the Dáil in 2007, he lost out in 2022 but returned topping the poll in Meath East in 2016 and then being elected alongside Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Sinn Fein’s Darren O’Rourke in 2020.
While in opposition he was the parties front bench spokesperson on Education and Skills so will be tuned in to the Physical Education brief which can only be a winner to have positioned on his desk alongside Sport.
He has also served as a spokesperson in the Seanad on Health and so comes with a strong background in areas that will be key to his being effective straight away in the Sports role.
He is heavily involved locally with the St Colmcilles GAA club in Bettystown.
His wife Ann is a former Senior County player with first Dublin and then Meath and also played around the world for Fr Murphy’s in London and in Australia.
Party colleague Jack Chambers has been an excellent and effective Minister of State for Sport and it is encouraging that another rising star within the party has been handed the role most likely through to the term of this Government.
The addition of Physical education to the brief holds out the prospect of better connected Government across the lifetime of a person’s engagement with sport and physical activity and is an area we will visit regularly over the course of the coming years.
Catherine Martin remained in place as the senior Minister within the Department in this week’s reshuffle.
