Patrick O’Donovan officially appointed as Minister for the Arts

Fine Gael's Patrick O'Donovan has been appointed ad Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport following the formal ratification of the Programme for Government by the Cabinet, after a meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin last night.

The new Cabinet was named by Taoiseach Micheal Martin. He also spoke to ministers about prioritising key areas such as infrastructure, housing, climate, public services and the economy.

Martin is set to establish the new unit on disability that will sit in the Department of Taoiseach, and meet with the Ministers and Secretary-Generals to outline his plans for the upcoming months.

Other appointed ministers include Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who will fill the role as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as Minister for Defence, as well as Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers, now appointed as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation.

Fine Gael's Helen McEntee will serve as Minister for Education and Youth. Fianna Fáil TD and barrister Jim O'Callaghan was appointed as Minister for Justice, while Paschal Donohoe is once again Minister for Finance.

The new Minister for Education and Youth is now Helen McEntee, formerly misister for justice, while Fianna Fáil's Dara Calleary will be Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will serve as the new Minister for Health. Fianna Fáil TDs Norma Foley and Darragh O'Brien have been appointed as Minister for Children and Disability, as well as Minister for Transport, Environment and Energy respectively.

The role of Government Chief Whip as well as the responsibility for Mental Health will be filled by Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford Mary Butler, while Fine Gael's Martin Heydon will take over as Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine.

Fianna Fáil's James Lawless will be appointed as Minister for Higher Education Research, Innovation and Science, and Peter Burkehas been reappointed as Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

Finally, Rossa Fanning has been reappointed as Attorney General.

Reactions have started pouring in about the newly appointed Minister for the Arts, some of whom pointed out that O'Donovan would have a lot to live up to, after the advancements made under previous minister Catherine Martin, such as the Basic Income for the Arts scheme.

Former Dublin City Councillor Deborah Byrne, for example, tweeted that she was "looking forward to seeing how you [O'Donovan] progress the Basic Artist Income scheme and expanding to all eligible artists as promised by your party."

Congrats. Looking forward to seeing how you progress the Basic Artist Income scheme and expanding to all eligible artists as promised by your party.

— Deborah Byrne (@deborahbyrnefyi) January 24, 2025

In other reactions to the Programme for Government, multiple figures have criticised the low number of women in the Cabinet, such as Cllr Rachael Batten, who said she believed women had been "sidelined" in the current Cabinet.

"As a woman in politics," she continued, "and as a mother, I find it difficult to accept that we continue to tell our daughters that there is an equal playing field in politics when the evidence stands in stark contradiction.

"We need stronger policies and leadership that reflect the realities faced by women in society and create the conditions for true gender equality in our political institutions."

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said in a statement that it is "deeply disappointing that the number of women in Cabinet has reduced by 25% to just three.

"There are now as many men named James in the Cabinet as there are women."