Tánaiste

The Tánaiste (/ˈtɔːnɪʃtə/ TAW-nish-tə, Irish: [ˈt̪ˠaːn̪ˠəʃtʲə] (listen)) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD, who was appointed on 17 December 2022. Under the Gaelic system of tanistry, the word tánaiste (plural tánaistí, pronounced [ˈt̪ˠaːn̪ˠəʃtʲiː], approximately /ˈtɔːnɪʃtiː/ TAW-nish-tee) had been used for the heir of the chief (taoiseach) or king (rí).[citation needed] The word was adopted in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland as the title for a member of the government nominated by the Taoiseach to act in their place as needed during periods of the Taoiseach's temporary absence. Tánaiste is the official title of the deputy head of government in both English and Irish, and is not used for other countries' deputy prime ministers, who are referred to in Irish by the generic term leas-phríomh-aire, pronounced [ˈl̠ʲasˠ ˌfʲɾʲiːw ˈaɾʲə], approximately /ˌlæsfriːˈvɛərə/ LASS-free-VAIR-ə. The longer Irish form, an Tánaiste, is sometimes used in English instead of "the Tánaiste".