He was Chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party from June 2011 to May 2014.[7]
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.[8]
Flanagan had previously said he intended to contest the next general election,[12] but on 25 September 2023, he announced that he would not run, citing the split of Laois–Offaly constituency into two constituencies.[13][14]
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.[15] 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".[15] The backlash forced Flanagan to defer the commemoration, but he committed to holding another in future.[16]
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".[17] Flanagan has also defended his wearing of the remembrance poppy, a historically controversial emblem in Ireland, calling it an "international symbol of remembrance".[18]
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.[19] 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".[20] He campaigned in favour of a Yes vote in the 2018 Irish abortion referendum.[21] 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.[22] In 2019, as Minister for Justice, Flanagan signed an exclusion order banning anti-gay preacher Steven Anderson from entering Ireland.[23]
Flanagan has criticised the Irish press for their coverage of Israel, accusing them of "demonisation" and "slavishly dancing to the Palestinian drumbeat for decades".[24] As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he resisted calls to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Moda'i.[25]
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