A member of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament, from 1973 to 1977, 1981 to 1982 and 1987 to 2011, he served as Minister for the Gaeltacht from January 12, 1993 to November 17, 1994 in the Fianna Fáil-Labour coalition government and as Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht from December 15, 1994 to June 26, 1997 in the Fine Gael-Labour-Democratic coalition government, known as the Rainbow Coalition.