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Mol an óige Jack Chambers TD As one of the youngest deputies in the Dáil, with a Dublin base, a good rapport with his party’s membership, a track record of loyalty to the current leadership, and cabinet experience as a super junior minister, Jack Chambers TD is likely to have a bright future in Fianna Fáil. The Government Chief Whip sits down with Ciarán Galway to discuss political trajectory, priorities, and ambition. Though there are no less than four camáin in his office – complemented by a OPW-loaned illustration of hurlers anticipating a puck out – the Minister of State with responsibility for Sport insists his allegiances lie with the size five ball, having previously played football with the St Brigid’s club in Castleknock. Indeed, while both his parents hail from County Mayo – his father, Frank, from Newport and his mother, Barbara, from Hollymount – Chambers was born in Galway and raised in west Dublin from the age of two. Both his paternal and maternal families had traditional political affiliations and he is particularly keen to emphasise his anti-Treaty and Fianna Fáil lineage. Chambers’s great-grandmother, Nora Chambers, “was involved in some of the anti-Treaty ambushes around the 1920s”. Meanwhile, his great-aunt, Bridget Rice (née Henaghan), from Louisburgh, County Mayo, was married to Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD
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Eamon Rice of Iniskeen. After Eamon’s death in 1937, Bridget retained the seat for the party from 1938 until she retired in 1954. On the other hand, though, his mother’s family “would have been more Fine Gael”. More recently, his father was locally involved with Fianna Fáil in the Dublin West constituency, exposing him to political activity, which included canvassing for Brian Lenihan Jnr from a young age. Remarking on his relationship with his late party colleague, Chambers reflects: “Brian Lenihan was someone who showed incredible public service, who was a brilliant constituency politician but also was someone who represented the country with dignity and hard work in everything he did nationally. So, that is how I initially got involved in politics and I just got more active as I grew older.” However, the TD for Dublin West does not believe that his path into Fianna Fáil was preordained by virtue of his familial ties. Rather, he insists, it was conscious decision given that the party aligns with his