Jack Chambers is deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, TD for Dublin West and Minister for Public Expenditure. Born in Galway but raised in Castleknock, Co Dublin, he became a medical doctor before entering politics. In 2024, he became the youngest Minister for Finance since Michael Collins …
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CHILDHOOD? There was always a west of Ireland influence in the house, even though I grew up in Dublin. My parents are both from Mayo and when I was a kid, I always said I was from Mayo, too. We went down to my grandparents a lot and my mother’s brothers played for Mayo, so when it was all Dublin jerseys on our road, I wore a Mayo jersey. I was two when my parents moved to Dublin. They were student doctors in Galway and they came up to Dublin, “on a whim” my father always says, and they ended up in Castleknock, near the teaching hospitals, and never left. In the 1990s, everyone on our road was from somewhere else. My parents are incredibly caring and supportive of me and my two brothers and we’re a really tight-knit family.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR PARENTS’ INFLUENCE IN YOUR LATER LIFE — YOUR FATHER WAS INVOLVED IN POLITICS? My parents were very friendly with Brian Lenihan when I was growing up and he was often in and out of the house. I kind of always watched politics. Ours was a very Civil War house in many ways. My mother’s family were all Fine Gael but my dad’s side was more Fianna Fáil. My late granny was staunchly Fine Gael, so I’d often be provoking her once I went Fianna Fáil. Having a senior politician coming in and out of the house kind of helped that interest to grow and I started getting active in my teenage years.
DID YOUR SCHOOL MAKE A BIG IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE? My WhatsApp groups are still full of friends I met in junior infants in St Brigid’s, Castleknock. There was a real sense of community with the people on my road, and the people I played GAA with. Then I went to Belvedere College and they really nurtured community, too. When I go back there now, that’s still there, and they really try to promote that you were one of their pupils.
WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU’D GROW UP TO BE? I thought I could be a soccer player or some sort of sports star. Later it was science and medicine, and then law and politics. In college I did political science [and then medicine] but as my interest in public service grew, I decided that if I got the chance, I’d give it a go. But in politics, it’s not about what you want, it’s always a case of do people actually want you to run.
HOW AMBITIOUS ARE YOU — IS TAOISEACH A GOAL? I think politicians who focus on where they want to end up themselves lose sight of what they’re in today or next week. Where people get distracted by positioning themselves for the future, they’re not fulfilling the role they’re in.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE IMPORTANT FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUR LIFE? My mother Barbara always goes the extra mile for me and my two brothers; she is that person you can get advice from on difficult days.
YOU’D LIKE PEOPLE TO REGARD YOU AS … Sincere, hardworking and honest.
“I think it’s important in public life to share who you are. I wanted to be truly honest about who I am.”
YOUR FRIENDSHIPS ARE FOR THE MOST PART … With an excellent group, many of whom have little or no interest in direct politics, which is a good balance from the daily life. Lots of them are getting married this year, so there are a lot of stags and weddings coming up.
WAS COMING OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY LAST YEAR IMPORTANT TO YOU? I think it’s important in public life to share who you are. Some people would have said to me that you shouldn’t have to tell the public, but I wanted to be truly honest about who I am. It was important for me to do and it’s been a wonderful experience.
DID LEO VARADKAR COMING OUT PUBLICLY IN 2015 HELP? I think Leo led the way for people in many spheres. He’s been a really positive leader for the LGBT community and I think it’s always good when you have leaders like that who come before you. There’s also a broader group who I think need to see that diversity in different public positions. If that can help someone, it’s all good, but it was also good for me to be in public life and be true to who I am.
YOUR MOST PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE FEATURE IS … That’s something I’ll leave others to decide.
YOUR STYLE SIGNIFIER IS … I have this red and yellow woven bracelet I got from a member of the Indian community in Dublin 15. It was placed on my wrist about six months ago, during the election. Sometimes when that happens, you take it off soon after, but they said it’s a symbol of protection, a kind of bond, so I kept it on.
YOU BUY YOUR CLOTHES WHEN … I kind of take a fit to go do it, usually unplanned and randomly, and I’ll have a nice look around and usually don’t come out without a bag. Once I decide I’m doing it, I’ll always get something.
YOUR FAVOURITE SHOES ARE … My Asics. I love running and when I have my Asics on it’s downtime, a break away from work. I associate them with a pause in the day. Plus I have fat feet.
DO YOU USE SKINCARE PRODUCTS? I do. I moisturise and I go between Nivea and Bulldog. Now I’m in my 30s, I find myself looking more at the products and what they can actually do for me.
“I enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy a takeaway and I know people say they only have it after a night out, but I love an Abrakebabra doner kebab.”
YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE INCLUDES … I exercise five or six times a week. I do 5k and 10k runs and I go to the gym. My gym is open until 11pm and on an evening when Dáil voting finishes at 9pm, I’ll go straight there. I’m probably very disciplined about exercising. Before I got into politics, I was playing GAA with St Brigid’s in Castleknock but I couldn’t keep that up with the madness of daily life. I played in a GAA blitz in Argentina when I was there for St Patrick’s Day. That was good.
YOU MOST RECENTLY READ … Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. I decided I’d read the book before watching the series, and it’s a fantastic insight into the Troubles.
YOU MOST RECENTLY LISTENED TO … In the mornings I listen to Spin and 98FM, just as a break from the newspapers, but I just listened to a brilliant podcast with Scott Galloway, talking to Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson about their book, Abundance. It’s about how the blue states in the US, despite trying, are not delivering in terms of housing and energy and so on and how that’s kind of the key to fixing America. So there’s a lot of parallels with what we need to do in Ireland.
CAN YOU SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? I did French to Leaving Certificate. I still try to use my French, even though when I speak I sometimes get English back.
WHAT DO YOU COOK AT HOME? A lot of pasta. I grew up with potato-based food, so now I kind of dig into my pasta and rice dishes. I enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy a takeaway and I know people say they only have it after a night out, but I love an Abrakebabra doner kebab.
WHEN YOU SAY YOU’RE DOING NOTHING, WHAT ARE YOU REALLY DOING? Literally nothing. I value that at parts of the weekend you can just have a bit of peace and downtime. I might turn on the TV.
WHAT’S YOUR IDEA OF A PERFECT WEEKEND? Probably down West. Political commitments can end up feeding into the weekend, so I value a proper break with friends or family. I still love Mayo and the wild west still draws me back.