The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has chosen Mairead McGuinness to join her cabinet. This follows the nomination by the Irish Government of McGuinness and Andrew McDowell for the role. von der Leyen interviewed both candidates on Monday, 7th September 2020. She said that both showed great commitment to the EU. She has now proposed McGuinness for the post of Commissioner, in charge of financial services, financial stability and the Capital Markets Union. Latvia\'s Valdis Dombrovskis will become the EU\'s Trade Commissioner.
The Irish Coalition Government have agree to nominated Mairead McGuinness and Andrew McDowell as Ireland\'s representative on the EU Commission, this follows the resignation of Phil Hogan from the post following his decision to attend the Oireachtas Golf Society Dinner in August. Mairead McGuinness is currently a Member of the European Parliment for the Ireland Midlands-North-West constituency. Andrew McDowell is the former Vice-president of the European Investment Bank.
An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, has appointed his 3rd Minister for Agriculture, Food and The Marine since he took hold off office in June 2020. Charlie McConalogue takes the ministerial brief following the departure of Dara Calleary in August, he took the role from Barry Cowen in July. President Micheal D. Higgins appointed Mr. McConalogue as Minister on Wednesday the 2nd of September, 2020, presenting him with is Seal of Office.
The leaders of Ireland\'s coalition government have welcomed Commissioner Hogan\'s apology following the fallout from the Oireachtas Golf Society Dinner, however the three leaders continue to have concerns about the Commissioners movements around Ireland during the Covid-19 restrictions. They concluded by saying that ultimately the Commissioner is accountable to the EU commission and not the Irish Government or the Oireachtas.
Just 17 days as Taoiseach and Micheal Martin has announced a reshuffle of his cabinet team. The President (Micheal D. Higgins) provided Daragh Calleary with his seal of office as the Minister for Agriculture. This follows the fall out from Barry Cowen's drink driving admission. Jack Chambers takes over as Government Chief Whip and Minster of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport.
The Minister for Agriculture, Barry Cowen, has been stepped down by An Taoiseach, Michéal Martin. Last week it was reported that the Minister had been banned for drink driving on a provisional license in 2016. He made a speech in the Dáil soon after the story emerged, however on Sunday (12th July, 2020) The Sunday Time provided more information on the controversy, including that he\'d tried to avoid a Garda checkpoint on the day in question.