Martin Mansergh


Martin George Southcote Mansergh was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Minister of State from 2008 to 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary South constituency from 2007 to 2011. He was a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 2002 to 2007. He played a leading role in developing Fianna Fáil policy on Northern Ireland.

Background

Mansergh was born on 31 December 1946 in Woking, Surrey, England, to Diana Mary and Nicholas Mansergh, a County Tipperary-born Irish historian. His forefathers were part of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy and arrived in Ireland with Oliver Cromwell. He was raised in England and lived in the Cambridgeshire town of Little Shelford. Mansergh was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics and obtained a PhD in pre-revolutionary French history. A member of the Church of Ireland, he was married to Elizabeth, the daughter of a Glasgow doctor, with whom he had four daughters and one son. He sat on the board of Bolton Library for several years.
Mansergh died from a heart attack in the Western Sahara, on 26 September 2025, at the age of 78. He was on a trip there with other retired parliamentarians.

Career

Mansergh entered the Department of Foreign Affairs, being appointed a Third secretary in 1974 and became a First Secretary in 1977. Later recruited by Taoiseach Charles Haughey, he worked for the Fianna Fáil party thereafter, serving under three Fianna Fáil leaders as Director of Research, Policy and Special Advisor on Northern Ireland where he was involved in discussions between the nationalist parties and the Irish Government and met regularly with intermediary Father Alec Reid.
He was a key member of the team which formed the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition in 1992 and was also involved in the formation of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition in 1997. As a senior adviser to successive Taoisigh, Mansergh played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process for over twenty years. He ran for Fianna Fáil as a Dáil candidate in the Tipperary South constituency at the 2002 general election but failed to be elected with 14.2% of the poll. However, Mansergh was elected to the 22nd Seanad by the Agricultural Panel in July of that year. At the 2007 general election he again ran for Fianna Fáil as a Dáil candidate in the Tipperary South constituency, this time being elected with 15.7% of the poll. He was Council of State (Ireland)|appointed] to the Council of State by President Mary McAleese and served from 2004 to 2011.
Until 2006 he wrote a weekly column for The Irish Times, but resigned because of the upcoming general election. In May 2008, he was appointed by the government of Brian Cowen as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism with special responsibility for the Arts.
In January 2009, he offered to quit his junior ministry post to save money and called on people to retain their Celtic Tiger style optimism and self-respect. He said: "We're not going to get anywhere by completely throwing overboard our self respect. We have achieved a tremendous amount in the past 20 years – they were the best 20 years in our history. There will be cycles – we rose very high and we are where we are now. We have to work our way out of this intelligently". However, he was re-appointed to his positions when Cowen reduced the number of junior ministers from 20 to 15.
Mansergh lost his seat at the 2011 general election.
He was vice-chair of the government's Expert Advisory Group on the Decade of Centenaries. Mansergh was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in May 2018. He had been a frequent contributor to The Irish Catholic.

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Mansergh had been a strong supporter of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, whose financial affairs were investigated by the Mahon Tribunal. He was accused by some commentators of being insulting, condescending and petulant to opposition politicians. In February 2008, on the RTÉ Radio 1 show Morning Ireland, Mansergh insisted that Ahern's difficulties were no more than a spot of "inflight turbulence," with a safe landing in sight. When Fine Gael's tribunal expert, Senator Eugene Regan dissented, Mansergh became quite agitated, questioning why Regan wanted to question Ahern's finances declaring to Regan that: "You should have respect for your betters!"
Mansergh was mentioned by name in the TV series, Charlie, where Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, in a conversation with Alec Reid, places him in charge of drawing up a roadmap to peace in Northern Ireland.

Honours and awards

Along with Father Alec Reid and the Reverend Roy Magee, he was awarded the 1995 Tipperary [International Peace Award], now described as "Ireland's outstanding award for humanitarian work". Carlow College awarded its inaugural Columbanus Medal in November 2018, to Mansergh, in recognition of his contribution to the peace process in Ireland.

Works

  • Mansergh, Martin, The Legacy of History for Making Peace in Ireland,,