Charles Flanagan

Charles Flanagan (born 1 November 1956) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency since 2020, and previously from 1987 to 2002, 2007 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 for the Laois constituency. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in September 2020. He previously served as Minister for Justice and Equality from 2017 to 2020, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2014 to 2017, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May to July 2014 and Chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party from 2011 to 2014.

Early life
Flanagan was born in 1956 in Mountmellick, County Laois. His father was Oliver J. Flanagan, an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1976 to 1977. He attended Knockbeg College at a secondary level and studied at University College Dublin and the Law Society of Ireland, where he qualified as a solicitor.

Career
Flanagan was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election, succeeding his father. Following his father's death in 1987, he was co-opted onto his seat on Laois County Council. He served until the abolition of the dual mandate in 2004.

He retained his seat at each election until losing it at the 2002 general election, but regained it at the 2007 general election. He was party Spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2007 to 2010, and was the party Spokesperson on Children from 2010 to 2011.

He was Chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party from June 2011 to May 2014.

On 7 May 2014, following the resignation of Alan Shatter as Minister for Justice and Minister for Defence, Flanagan was appointed the following day as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to succeed Frances Fitzgerald, who assumed the Justice portfolio. On 11 July 2014, Flanagan was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, succeeding the former Labour leader Eamon Gilmore.

He supported Leo Varadkar in the 2017 Fine Gael leadership election, and upon Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach on 14 June 2017, Flanagan was appointed as Minister for Justice and Equality. Flanagan was replaced as Minister for Justice by Helen McEntee on the formation of a new government with Micheál Martin as Taoiseach on 27 June 2020.

Flanagan had previously said he intended to contest the next general election, but on 25 September 2023, he announced that he would not run, citing the split of his Laois-Offaly constituency into two constituencies.

RIC commemoration
As Minister for Justice in 2020, Flanagan was behind plans for a state commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), the police force in Ireland during British administration. This drew widespread criticism from politicians and the public, largely due to the RIC's role in suppressing Irish independence movements, and atrocities by the Black and Tans during the War of Independence. A member of the government-appointed advisory group said they had "recommended a simple ceremony in Dublin Castle, but somebody lost the run of themselves and called it a State event". The backlash forced Flanagan to defer the commemoration, but he committed to holding another in future.

Flanagan supported a memorial wall in Glasnevin Cemetery that drew controversy for commemorating British soldiers alongside Irish revolutionaries. He condemned the decision to take down the wall as a "victory for bullies". Flanagan has also defended his wearing of the remembrance poppy, a historically controversial emblem in Ireland, calling it an "international symbol of remembrance".

Political views
In 2009, Flanagan expressed support for legalising adoption for same-sex couples, describing it as a "glaring omission" from a bill signed by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern. He supported the legalisation of gay marriage in Ireland's 2015 referendum, praising "a new and modern Ireland" and "a great day for tolerance, inclusion [and] pluralism". He campaigned in favour of a Yes vote in the 2018 Irish abortion referendum. In 2018, Flanagan delivered an apology in the Seanad on behalf of the state, to those who suffered as a result of homosexuality being criminalised. In 2019, as Minister for Justice, Flanagan signed an exclusion order banning anti-gay preacher Steven Anderson from entering Ireland.

Flanagan has criticised the Irish press for their coverage of Israel, accusing them of "demonisation" and "slavishly dancing to the Palestinian drumbeat for decades". As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he resisted calls to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Moda'i.

Personal life
Flanagan is married and has two daughters.