Jack Chambers (politician)
Jack Chambers is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Government Chief Whip since July 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency since the 2016 general election.
Chambers was born in Galway, but has lived in Dublin since early childhood. He resides in the Castleknock area of west Dublin. His father, Frank Chambers, from Newport, County Mayo, is a consultant at the Mater Private Hospital, and a political ally of Brian Lenihan Jnr. His mother, Barbara Farragher, is from Hollymount, County Mayo. He is not related to Lisa Chambers of Mayo, another new new Fianna Fáil TD in 2016. He attended Belvedere College and earned a Law and Political Science degree from Trinity College Dublin before enrolling in medicine at RCSI, graduating in 2020 after interrupting his studies early in his political career.
In 2014, Chambers reopened the constituency office closed after the death of Brian Lenihan in 2011. He was elected to Fingal County Council in the 2014 local elections, topping the poll in the Castleknock local electoral area. He was Deputy Mayor of Fingal from 2015 until vacating his council seat on election to the Dáil.
In March 2018, Micheál Martin appointed Chambers as Spokesperson for Defence. On 3 May 2018, he, along with several other Fianna Fáil TDs, called for a No vote in the Irish abortion referendum. He was re-elected as a TD for Dublin West following the 2020 general election. When Martin became Taoiseach, he nominated Chambers as Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance on 1 July 2020. Two weeks later, after Barry Cowen was sacked as Minister for Agriculture and the Marine, Martin promoted Dara Calleary to replace Cowen, with Chambers succeeding Calleary as Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht. Chambers said he would take an "intensive Irish language course" to prepare for the latter responsibility.
