{"id":385571,"date":"2026-04-07T01:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385571\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T01:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:20:08","slug":"former-ceann-comhairle-and-fine-gael-minister-sean-barrett-dies-aged-81-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385571\/","title":{"rendered":"Former ceann comhairle and Fine Gael minister Se\u00e1n Barrett dies aged 81 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tributes have been paid to former ceann comhairle and Fine Gael<\/a> minister Se\u00e1n Barrett<\/a>, who has died aged 81. <\/p>\n

Barrett served as a Fine Gael TD for D\u00fan Laoghaire for more than 20 years, from 1981 until he announced his retirement in advance of the 2002 general election. He made a successful return to national politics in 2007, winning a seat and holding on to it until his final retirement from the D\u00e1il in 2020.<\/p>\n

During his time in government, he served as minister for defence and minister for the marine and had two stints as government chief whip. In a statement on Monday, Fine Gael leader and T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> said: \u201cSe\u00e1n was known for his steady judgment, his understanding of the D\u00e1il and his ability to navigate complex political challenges with professionalism and integrity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Harris said he first met Barrett during his term as ceann comhairle between 2011 and 2016. During his five years in the role, Barrett oversaw the introduction of Oireachtas TV and the revival of State-recognised bravery awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found him witty, intelligent, sincere and a man of deep convictions,\u201c said Harris. \u201dIn his role as ceann comhairle, he exuded fairness, authority and a firm but measured approach in the chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a guardian of parliamentary standards and ensured that the business of the D\u00e1il was conducted with order and respect, during what was a tumultuous period in Irish politics following the financial crash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said his thoughts were with Barrett\u2019s family, including \u201chis wife Sheila, his children, grandchildren, wider family, friends and former colleagues at this sad time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who is a Fine Gael TD in Barrett\u2019s former constituency, said she was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d to learn of his passing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a personal level, Se\u00e1n was enormously kind to me during my time working for Fine Gael in Leinster House, and even more so as a new Councillor and TD for our area. His advice was invaluable,\u201d she said <\/p>\n

\u201cHis extensive contribution to our area is evident today in the many organisations he supported, not only through his work as a public representative but also as a volunteer. When I am out canvassing, people still mention his kindness and support for the people of D\u00fan Laoghaire, whom he represented so proudly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said Barrett \u201cgave distinguished service to the State \u2013 as chief whip, as ceann comhairle and as a minister”.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe believed passionately in parliamentary democracy,\u201d the Taoiseach said. \u201cHe was a very fair ceann comhairle and a competent, capable minister. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a thorough gentleman. I enjoyed his company in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann \u2013 we always got on well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have been paid to former ceann comhairle and Fine Gael minister Se\u00e1n Barrett, who has died aged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[101780,61,60,9820,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-385571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-eric-luke","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mam","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}