'Time to pass the baton': Former justice minister Charlie Flanagan will not contest next election
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Fine Gael TD and former justice minister Charlie Flanagan has announced he will not contest the next general election.
The announcement will serve as a further blow to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as Mr Flanagan becomes the eighth TD that has announced they will not contest the next election.
Mr Flanagan announced his decision on Monday night at a Laois-Offaly Fine Gael constituency meeting in Clonaslee.
Mr Flanagan said: “I wish to signal my intent to step back from frontline politics, and will not be contesting the next general election.
“It is now 36 years since I was first elected to Dáil Éireann. Between my father Oliver J and myself, that’s 80 years of public service and 23 general elections.
“I’m honoured to have enjoyed a thoroughly fulfilling political career serving both as your TD and at the Cabinet table in two of the most influential departments of State — foreign affairs and justice.”
Paying tribute to Mr Flanagan, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he had made an “outstanding contribution” to his constituency and said he was a “reforming and diligent” minister for justice.
Mr Flanagan also said politics has become an “ever-demanding and increasingly high-pressure career”.
He said: “The role requires ever-crucial focus and 24/7 application. The volatile nature of social media has added significantly to the helter-skelter and often chaotic workload of a TD.
"But having spent all my adulthood doing this job, there’s no doubting that being a political representative connects you daily to the very lifeblood of the country.”