Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2022 to 2024.

He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency from 1998 to 2024, having been elected in a by-election following the death of his father Hugh Coveney.

Coveney was elected to the 28th Dáil as a Fine Gael candidate for Cork South-Central in a by-election, caused by the death of his father in 1998.

Noonan was replaced as party leader by Enda Kenny, who promoted Coveney to the position of spokesperson on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in his new front bench.

[11] On 11 July 2014, in a cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Eamon Gilmore as Tánaiste, Coveney was given an additional appointment as Minister for Defence.

[12][13] On 17 June 2015, Coveney questioned the judgment of an experienced Air Corps pilot who refused to fly him to Cork, because of predicted fog.

In email correspondence between Department of Defence officials, the Air Corps is described as being "very unhappy" about the incident and indicating that they had never received such a call in 25 years".

[14] In January 2017 it emerged that a number of Air Corps whistleblowers had attempted to contact Coveney while he was defence minister over their concerns about the adverse health impacts of chemicals used to service the force's aircraft.

The Irish Examiner subsequently published a series of text messages between one of the whistleblowers and then-Chief Whip Regina Doherty sent in January 2016.

[15] Speaking in the Dáil on the revelations, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin described the Government handling of the whistleblowers' complaints as "a scandal".

[18] Varadkar succeeded Kenny as Taoiseach and named Coveney as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, with special responsibilities for Brexit.

From 2018, he has also co-chaired the European People's Party (EPP) Justice and Home Affairs Ministers Meeting, alongside Esteban González Pons.

[21] According to Lawrence Franklin of the Gatestone Institute, within the Irish government, Coveney opposed the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill to ban goods produced in Israeli settlements.

[22] In July 2020, following the formation of a coalition government of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party (led initially by Micheál Martin as Taoiseach), Coveney was re-appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

On 25 March 2022, Coveney was giving a speech in Belfast when he forced to leave the stage, following the discovery of a "suspect device" in a hjacked van in the carpark.

Coveney travelled via Poland and was the first foreign minister on the UN Security Council to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February.

During a cabinet meeting of the coalition government, Coveney proposed Zappone for the role without having previously discussed the matter with Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

[36] On 15 September, upon the return of the Dáil from a summer recess, a motion of no confidence was brought forward by Sinn Féin against Coveney as a direct result of the Zappone appointment and his subsequent handling of the affair in the aftermath of the details becoming public.

[38] On 2 April 2024, shortly after the election of Simon Harris as Fine Gael leader, Coveney announced that he would not seek to be appointed to the next cabinet.

Hyde was sentenced in June 2023 to two months' imprisonment for submitting false declarations of interest to An Bord Pleanála while serving as its deputy chairperson.