BEHIND THE SCENES
Inside Jack Chambers’ personal life from college studies to family legacy, including proud ‘I am gay’ announcement
He shared a proud coming out video this year
FIANNA Fail have announced that Jack Chambers will take over the role of deputy party leader.
This is the first time the party have had a deputy leader since 2020 when Dara Calleary resigned following the Golfgate controversy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Jack Chambers is a current TD and holds the position of Minister of State in the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications.
The promotion comes following Fianna Fail's success in the recent local elections.
The new deputy was the Director of Elections which party leader Micheal Martin said promoted the move.
He also said the Minister's hard work spanning over the past 12 months prompted him to finally fill the vacancy.
READ MORE ON JACK CHAMBERS
Speaking outside Leinster House yesterday Micheal Martin said: "I want to take this opportunity to announce that I am appointing Minister Jack Chambers as deputy party leader.
"Ever since he has emerged into politics, as a young 23 year old, he has displayed an extraordinary commitment and dedication to political life.
His appointment now at this stage is part of a re-organisation of Fianna Fail in terms of re-setting ourselves in the context of the next eight months and in particular the next general election.
“We are very focused on that and I’m very focused on that and Jack will now be a critical part of our broader effort to both defend the seats we have and increase the seats in Dail Eireann on the next occasion.”
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Speaking on his appointment Chambers said: "As a minister and director of local elections, I've gotten to know our wonderful organisation, the strength of our grass routes and our candidates and councillors right across the country.
"We're ambitious as a party, we're keen as a party to drive new organisation, new ambition and new plans for the future to look at the next five years."
CHAMBERS' EARLY LIFE
Jack Chambers is 33-years-old and was born in Galway.
His parents Frank and Barbara are both Mayo natives but made the move to the Castleknock area of Dublin when Jack was still a child.
His father hails from from Newport while his mother is a Hollymount woman.
Politics is a family business for the Chambers' with his father Frank being a Fianna Fail activist and was a close friend of Brian Lenihan who served as Tanaiste in the late 1980s.
After attending school at Belvedere College Jack went on to university, graduating with a law and politics from Trinity College Dublin.
Jack went a step further again with his education attending the Royal College of Surgeons to study medicine, graduating in 2020.
PERSONAL LIFE & RELATIONSHIPS
In January this year Jack opened up publicly about his sexuality, revealing in a proud Instagram video that he is gay.
In the video he said: " As I look forward to 2024 I am sharing with you something a little different but it’s something I wanted to do for a while.
“As a politician it can sometimes be difficult to speak about my own personal life and that can lead to things drifting.
“However, It’s important for me to be true to myself firstly – and to you all in my public service role. I am starting 2024 by telling you all that I am proud to say that I am gay.”
“Having shared it with many of my close family and friends, their support and love has given me the confidence and courage to share this publicly today.
He continued: "I am fortunate that Ireland is a country that has made so many strides in recent years,- becoming a much more inclusive and equal society to the extent that the sharing of this information is becoming increasingly unremarkable.
POLITICAL CAREER
The Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin West has had a prolific political career.
In 2011 he reopened the constituency office that had closed in Dublin 15 after his father's political ally Brian Lenihan died.
He topped local election results becoming a councillor at just 23 in 2014 and went on to be the youngest TD when he was 25.
Before this he served as Deputy Mayor in Finglas.
He has previously served as the Government Chief Whip and was also Minister of State for Sport, the Gaeltacht & Defence.
On his first attempt in 2016 he was elected to Dail Eireann and was re-elected in the 2020 General Election.
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