Mayo TD makes 'super' return to the Cabinet in minor reshuffle

Mayo TD and Minister for State Dara Calleary is returning to the Cabinet as the new super junior minister.

The Ballina-based representative, who was first elected in 2007, will retain his current role and his new title is Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Trade Promotion and Digital Transformation.

The news has been warmly welcomed across the Mayo political scene where Deputy Calleary is an immensely popular and widely-respected figure.

It also represents a major boost for him and his party in the five-seat constituency ahead of the next general election, which could take place later this year.

Ministers signed off on his promotion at a Cabinet meeting earlier this evening.

Deputy Calleary was briefly Minister for Agriculture in 2020 but he resigned after the Golfgate controversy.

Before that, he was chief whip for a short period.