Willie O'dea

Willie O'Dea was born in Limerick in 1952. He was educated at Patrician Brothers College, County Laois , University College Dublin , King's Inns and the Institute of Certified Accountants. O'Dea worked as a barrister and an accountant, and also lectured at University College Dublin and the University Of Limerick before entering politics. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD in the February 1982 General Election , and has been re-elected at every election since then. O'Dea has served as Minister Of State at the Department Of Justice (1992-1994), Minister of State at the Department Of Health (1993-1994), Minister of State at the Department Of Education & Science (1997-2002) and Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform (2002-2004). In September 2004 O'Dea received a long-awaited appointment to the government as Minister For Defence .

In November 2005 O'Dea courted controversy when he posed for a photo during a training exercise at the Curragh Camp in which he pointed an automatic pistol at the photographer O'Dea said that it was not his intention to glamorise gun crime [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1117/dail.html .

POLITICAL CAREER

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