[1] A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.
Born in Dundrum, County Dublin, Little was the son of Philip Francis Little and Mary Jane Holdright.
[2][3] Both his parents were Canadian natives, while his father had served as the first Premier of Newfoundland before settling in Ireland.
In 1918 the Volunteers, the Irish Nation League, and the Liberty Clubs, followers of George Noble Plunkett, agreed to merge under the Sinn Féin banner with Éamon de Valera as President to fight the 1918 general election on an abstentionist platform.
[3][10] Little was appointed Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in 1939[11][12] and remained in this office until 1948, when Fianna Fáil failed to form a government.
In 1952, following the death of Bridget Redmond, Fianna Fáil won the resulting by-election and held three out of four seats in the constituency.