New Government Chief Whip Patrick O’Donovan.
West Limerick will now have a presence at the Cabinet table of the current Government after local Fine Gael TD Patrick O’Donovan was yesterday, Tuesday, appointed Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science by new Taoiseach Simon Harris. On a proud day for the Newcastle West native and his family, the new minister travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday evening to be presented with his Seal of Office from President Michael D. Higgins.
Patrick O’Donovan, who almost 20 years ago was elected to what was then Limerick County Council, won a seat in Dáil Éireann in 2011, and has served as Minister of State for the OPW during the current term of the Government.
As a fully-fledged minister, Mr O’Donovan will now have a seat at the Cabinet table and will have full voting rights. As the new Minister for Further and Higher Education Research, Innovation and Science, Minister O’Donovan succeeds Simon Harris.
Mr O’Donovan is a qualified primary school teacher and lives with his wife Eileen and young family in Monagea.
His elevation to the Cabinet means that West Limerick now has two representatives in the upper echelons of government, as Niall Collins is the current Minister of State for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.