Close Offaly family connection to British government's former chief of staff

THE former chief of staff to Keir Starmer's government in Britain who resigned at the weekend has close family connections with Offaly.

Cork native, Morgan McSweeeny was the British prime minister's most trusted political advisor until his resignation due to the ongoing controversy surrounding Peter Mandelson's connection with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

Mr McSweeeny commanded unrivalled political influence within the British administration and played a key role in the Labour party's general election victory in 2024.

Former Offaly Express journalist, Declan McSweeney, from Tullamore, who now resides in England, is closely related to Morgan.

Declan's brother, Brian is the only member of the family still resident in Tullamore.

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Brian and Declan are first cousins of Morgan's father, Tim - the Offaly brothers' late father, Denis, a former CEO of Offaly Vocational Education Committee, was a brother of Morgan's grandfather, Michael.

Speaking to the Tribune following the 2024 general election, Declan congratulated his cousin on his success and wished him well on "whatever role now emerges".

Morgan McSweeney's family were involved in politics in his native Cork, though of the "blue" rather than the "red" variety.

He had an aunt who was a county councillor with Fine Gael while a first cousin of his, Clare Mungovan, was a special advisor to Leo Varadkar when he was Taoiseach.

Profiling the Cork man when he was appointed to his role by Keir Starmer, The London Times said: "Nobody without elected office wields as much power in British politics as McSweeney."

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