Martin rose quickly from Fianna Fáil’s backbenches. In 1995, opposition leaderBertie Ahernappointed him to be the party’s spokesman on education and Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas). When Ahern became taoiseach after the 1997 elections, he made Martin, then age 36, minister of education and...
Angela Rayner, the Labour Party’s deputy leader, was absolutely outraged that Swayne had expressed a counter-hegemonic opinion and tweeted that she had written to the Conservative Party chair saying “urgent action” had to be taken against Sir Desmond. Swayne was then attacked for going on a...