Donal Carey is a former Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 politician. He was a Teachta Dála

Teachta Dála

A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for the constituency of Clare.

Carey was first elected to Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 on his 3rd attempt in the February 1982 General Election and retained his seat until losing it at the 2002 General Election

Irish general election, 2002

The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...

.

On 27 January 1995 he became a Minister of State

Ministers of State of the 27th Dáil

On 12 January 1993 the 23rd Government of Ireland was officially appointed by Dáil Éireann. The Fianna Fáil–Labour Party government was led by the Taoiseach Albert Reynolds....

 at the Department of the Taoiseach
and Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the Bruton Government

Government of the 27th Dáil

The 27th Dáil was elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 but did not meet until 4 January 1993, however the 23rd Government of Ireland was not appointed until the 12 January. The 27th Dáil lasted a total of 1,654 days.-23rd Government of Ireland :...

.

His son, Joe Carey

Joe Carey

Joe Carey is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Clare constituency since 2007.He was a member of Clare County Council from 1997–2007. He was educated at Clarecastle National School Clarecastle, St. Flannan's College Ennis, and Galway Institute of Technology...

, was elected in 2007 as a Fine Gael TD for the same constituency.