Hildegarde Naughton has been promoted to a senior cabinet ministry following the shock departure of Finance Minister Pascal Donohue to a top job at the World Bank in Washington.

A former teacher at St Patrick’s Primary School on Lombard Street in the city, the three-time Galway West TD was appointed Minister for Education and Youth on the advice of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris.

After receiving her seal of office on Tuesday from former constituency colleague, President of Ireland Catherine Connolly, Minister Naughton vowed to speak up at the Cabinet table for Galway.

“I will be a strong voice in Government for Galway and the west of Ireland in the years ahead,” she said.

In the history of the state, Minister Naughton becomes the first Fine Gael TD from Galway West to be appointed a senior minister.

She is the first senior minister from Galway West since Éamon Ó Cuív held three cabinet posts towards the end of the ill-fated Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government in 2011.

The Oranmore representative is only the second woman from Galway West to serve as a senior minister; the first was Máire Geoghegan Quinn.

Minister Naughton cut her political teeth on Galway City Council where she was elected Mayor of Galway just two years after winning a seat in the 2009 local election.

That result surprised many observers, even within Fine Gael, as the newcomer unseated the party’s long-serving incumbent Councillor John Mullholland.

After a stint in Seanad Éireann, an appointee of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, she was underestimated again going into the 2016 General Election.

But despite the arrival of high-profile candidate, John O’Mahony, the former All-Ireland winning senior football manager with Galway, on a three-candidate Fine Gael ticket, she was elected to Dáil Éireann alongside Seán Kyne.

That duo staved off a strong challenge from Sinn Fein’s Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and held a second seat for Fine Gael despite the premature departure from politics of former TD Brian Walsh.

A past pupil of Scoil Mhuire and Calasanctius College in Oranmore, Minister Naughton is an economics and French graduate of NUI Galway and did her teacher training in Mary Immaculate in Limerick.

She has served as Minister of State – or junior minister – in several Departments.

Despite not having a vote, Minister Naughton gained experience of how cabinet operates following her appointment as Government Chief Whip in 2022 under the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and in her most recent role as Minister of State attending cabinet with responsibility for Disability.

She said this experience means she can ‘hit the ground running’ in her new brief.

Minister Naughton said she was ‘passionate about education’ since she qualified as a teacher over 20 years ago and was ‘deeply honoured’ to be appointed Minister for Education and Youth.

“I am absolutely committed to delivering a world-class education system for children across Ireland but am mindful of my responsibilities and desire to progress vital strategic investment for projects throughout Galway.

“I look forward to working with colleagues in the Department of Education and across Government over the coming years to deliver on our shared vision of a better Ireland,” she said.

Fine Gael leader Mr Harris takes the reins at Finance, and deputy leader and former Education Minister Helen McEntee goes to Foreign Affairs.

Pictured: The newly appointed Minister for Education & Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD, receives her seal of office from the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly.