Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Ireland)

The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was a senior post in the government of the Irish Free State

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

and the Republic of Ireland

Politics of the Republic of Ireland

Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic and a member state of the European Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, this is a largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the indirectly elected Taoiseach who is...

from 1924 to 1984, when the post and the department was abolished.

The office of Minister for Post and Telegraphs was created in the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, which reorganised the Irish system of government. It assumed the role in the Irish Free State of that formerly exercised by the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom. Legislation of 1831 had amalgamated the offices of Postmaster General of Great Britain and Postmaster General of Ireland, a jointly held role in the administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

.

The Ministers and Secretaries Act, Section (1), Part (ix) defines the department's role:
The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was responsible for Ireland's postal and telecommunications services from 1924 to 1984. At its height time the department was one of the largest civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

departments in Ireland. The reform of the sector and department began in 1978 with the creation of the Posts and Telegraphs Review Group. This led after a report was delivered in 1979, to the creation of the ad-hoc

Ad hoc

Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....

Interim Board for Posts (An Bord Poist), chaired by Feargal Quinn

Feargal Quinn

Feargal Quinn is an Irish politician, businessman, television personality and an independent member of Seanad Éireann.-Early and personal life:...

, and the Interim Board for Telecommunications (An Bord Telecom), chaired by Michael Smurfit

Michael Smurfit

Sir Michael Smurfit, KBE , is a businessman holding Irish citizenship. In the 2010 Irish Independent Rich List, he was listed at 25th, with a €368 million personal fortune.-Early life:...

. These two boards continued to sit until An Post

An Post

An Post is the State-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union...

and Telecom Éireann

Telecom Éireann

Telecom Éireann, or formally Bord Telecom Éireann - The Irish Telecommunications Board, was created by the Postal & Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, Ireland, under the leadership of the Minister for Posts & Telegraphs...

, respectively, replaced them. These state-sponsored bodies

State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland

A State-Sponsored Body is the name given in Ireland to a state-owned enterprise , that is to say, a commercial business which is benficially owned, either completely or majority, by the Irish Government...

were created in 1984.

The Minister of Posts and Telegraphs ceased to exist at that time, and its powers and responsibilities were transferred to the newly-created office of Minister for Communications

Minister for Communications (Ireland)

The Minister for Communications was the minister in the Government of Ireland created by the to replace the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs. In 1991 the ministers functions were passed to the retitled Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications and the department ceased to exist .-Minister...

; this was one of the largest reorganisations of the civil service

Civil service of the Republic of Ireland

The Civil Service of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the Departments of State and certain State Agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, the Civil Service of the Government and the Civil Service of the State...

in modern times. As a result, the number of civil service employees nearly halved overnight because of the transfer of personnel.

Postmaster General 1922–1924

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs 1924–1984

Ernest Blythe

Ernest Blythe was an Irish politician.Ernest Blythe was born to a Presbyterian and Unionist family near Lisburn, County Antrim in 1889, the son of a farmer, and was educated locally. At the age of fifteen he started working as a clerk in the Department of Agriculture in Dublin.Blythe joined the...

Joseph Connolly

Joseph Connolly was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.Born in Belfast in 1885, Joseph Connolly was an ardent nationalist. He was a co-founder of the first Freedom Club to propagate Sinn Féin's message in 1911. He was a leader of the Irish Volunteers in Belfast between 1914 and 1916, and was interned...

|9 March 1932
|8 February 1933
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

|-
|4.
|Gerald Boland

Gerald Boland

Gerald Boland was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Justice.-Early life:...

|8 February 1933
|11 November 1936
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|5.
|Oscar Traynor

Oscar Traynor

Oscar Traynor was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and revolutionary. He served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Defence....

|11 November 1936
|8 September 1939
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|7.
|Patrick Little

Patrick Little

Patrick J. "P. J." Little was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Posts and Telegraphs....

|27 September 1939
|18 February 1948
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|8.
|James Everett

James Everett

James Everett was an Irish politician. On leaving school Everett became an organiser with County Wicklow Agricultural Union, which later merged with the ITGWU. He was a member of Sinn Féin and served as a justice in the Republican courts for Kildare and Wicklow from 1919. He was first elected to...

|18 February 1948
|13 June 1951
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|National Labour Party

National Labour Party (Ireland)

The National Labour Party was an Irish political party active between 1944 and 1950. It was founded in 1944 from a rebel faction of the Labour Party, inspired by the intransigence of the incumbent leadership of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union against the majority of the party.The...

|-
|9.
|Erskine H. Childers

Erskine Hamilton Childers

Erskine Hamilton Childers served as the fourth President of Ireland from 1973 until his death in 1974. He was a Teachta Dála from 1938 until 1973...

(1st time)
|13 June 1951
|2 June 1954
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|10.
|Michael Keyes

Michael Keyes

Michael J. Keyes was an Irish Labour Party politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his second attempt in 1927 as a Labour Party TD for Limerick. He lost his seat in the second election in 1927 and failed to be elected in 1932, however, he returned to the Dáil in 1933. In 1949 he joined...

|2 June 1954
|20 March 1957
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|Labour Party

Labour Party (Ireland)

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

|-
|11.
|Neil Blaney

Neil Blaney

Neil Terence Columba Blaney was a senior Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1948 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála representing Donegal East. Blaney served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs , Minister for Local Government and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries...

|20 March 1957
|4 December 1957
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|12.
|John Ormonde

John Ormonde

John Ormonde was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at a by-election in 1947 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Waterford. In 1957 he joined the cabinet of Éamon de Valera as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs...

|4 December 1957
|23 June 1959
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|13.
|Michael Hilliard

Michael Hilliard

Michael Hilliard was an Irish Fianna Fáil Party politician.He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1943 general election, as a TD for Meath–Westmeath. During his career he served in the governments of Seán Lemass and Jack Lynch...

|23 June 1959
|21 April 1965
! style="background-color: " |
|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|
|Erskine H. Childers

Erskine Hamilton Childers

Erskine Hamilton Childers served as the fourth President of Ireland from 1973 until his death in 1974. He was a Teachta Dála from 1938 until 1973...

(2nd time)
|10 November 1966
|2 July 1969
! style="background-color: " |
|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|16.
|Gerry Collins
|9 May 1970
|14 March 1973
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|17.
|Conor Cruise O'Brien

Conor Cruise O'Brien

Conor Cruise O'Brien often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish politician, writer, historian and academic. Although his opinion on the role of Britain in Northern Ireland changed over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, he always acknowledge values of, as he saw, the two irreconcilable traditions...

|14 March 1973
|5 July 1977
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|Labour Party

Labour Party (Ireland)

|-
|18.
|Pádraig Faulkner

Pádraig Faulkner

Pádraig Faulkner is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected in 1957 as a Teachta Dála for the Louth constituency, serving until 1987...

|5 July 1977
|11 December 1979
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|19.
|Albert Reynolds

Albert Reynolds

Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...

|12 December 1979
|30 June 1981
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

|-
|20.
|Patrick Cooney

Patrick Cooney

Patrick Cooney is a former Irish politician of the Fine Gael party. Most notable as Minister for Justice from 1973 to 1977, he was a Teachta Dála for 15 years, a senator for four years, and Member of the European Parliament for five years.Cooney was born in 1931 and was educated at Castleknock...

|30 June 1981
|9 March 1982
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|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...

|-
|21.
|John Wilson

John P. Wilson

John Patrick Wilson was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected as a Teachta Dála for Cavan in 1973 and served in Dáil Éireann until 1992...

|9 March 1982
|14 December 1982
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|Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fine Gael

Postmaster General 1922–1924

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs 1924–1984

See also