Sudden death of Shane McEntee

The death has occurred of the Meath East TD, Shane McEntee, the Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture. Mr MrEntee was elected Fine Gael TD for Meath in the by-election following former Taoiseach John Bruton's appointment as EU Ambassador to Washington in 2005. He was elected in the new Meath East constituency in subsequent elections and became junior minister last year. This afternoon, the Government issued a statement: "The Government regrets to announce the sudden death of Minister of State, Shane McEntee TD. Our thoughts and prayers are with Shane's family and friends at this deeply sad time." Aged 56, Mr McEntee was married to Kathleen, with a family of three. The Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coneney said: "I'm deeply shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Shane McEntee. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family at what must be an awful and difficult time."