Fionnbarra Ó Cathail

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Fionnbarra Ó Cathail
24th Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational
In office
25 June 2016 - 10 September 2016
Vice Chair Jonathan I
Predecessor Jonathan I
Successor Jonathan I
Co-President of Leylandiistan & Gurvata
Appointed Leylandiistani Co-President office
30 August 2014 - 14 September 2016
Gurvatan Co-President Pádraig Ó Ceocháin
First Minister of Mercia
Elected to the First Minister's office
31 May 2015
Lords Karl I
Richard I
Predecessor Thomas Cassidy
Successor Earl Eden
1st President of the Democratic Republic of Leylandiistan
Assumed the Presidency office
19th of August 2013
Vice President Ruairí de Créag
Predecessor (Office Created)
Successor None (Office disbanded)
Personal Information
Born Cork, Ireland
Citizenship Confederation of Leylandiistan and Gurvata and Ireland
Nationality Irish/Leylandiistani
Ethnicity Irish
Political party Conradh Daonlathais
Residence Orchardstown, Leylandiistan, Leylandiistan & Gurvata
Religion Roman Catholic
Signature
Website www.leylandiistan.co.nr

Fionnbarra Ó Cathail was one of two Co-Presidents of Leylandiistan & Gurvata, and served one term as Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational. He served as President of the Democratic Republic of Leylandiistan, as well as two terms as First Minister of Mercia between May 2015 and May 2016. He previously served two terms as Media Secretary and one term as Vice Chairman of the Grand Unified Micronational.

Background

Early Leylandiistan (2012 - 2013)

In late October 2012, Ruairí de Créag and Fionnbarra Ó Cathail began forming the idea of a new republic. They called it Leylandiistan, after the Leyland Cypresses (Leylandii) of the Cubbyhole Territory, and the Perso-Arabic suffix for a nation, -stan. They seceded on 3 November 2012, and declared independence not long after. Ó Cathail assumed the roles of Finance, Tourism, Education and Foreign Secretary. As Foreign Secretary, he allied Leylandiistan with over a dozen other micronations. As Finance Secretary, he co-ordinated the introduction of the Leylandiistan Lira, Leylandiistan's currency. He helped Consul Ruairí de Créag write a draft Constitution (which was later abandoned), and they also designed the initial political system of Leylandiistan, which he later reformed to make it more democratic. He founded SALDAL (Socialist Anti-conflict Liberal Democratic Alliance of Leylandiistan) as a socialist movement within Leylandiistan, and the party gained two out of 7 seats in the National Assembly of Leylandiistan following the elections of August 2013. He ran for election as SALDAL's main candidate, along with deputy party leader Norma O' Connor. On August 12, 2013 it was announced he was the winner of the election, and he was inaugurated as the first President of Leylandiistan on the 19th of August. Between the election and the end of the year, Ó Cathail proposed two laws, both being passed by the National Assembly. The first gave the National Assembly more power in the running of the government, while the second expanded the duties of the Foreign Secretary.

Leylandiistan in 2014

On 18 December 2013, Ó Cathail founded Béal na Tíre, a Leylandiistani news blog. Though initially set up as an Irish-language journal, after the demise of the Leylandiistan Sentinel it became the main media outlet of Leylandiistan, and published its articles in English. A few weeks later, in early January, Leylandiistan gained membership of the Grand Unified Micronational, and he began the journey of making Leylandiistan a more developed, organised nation which was more professional in its conduct. That month at SALDAL's first party congress, the party was renamed to Conradh Daonlathais. In February, he realised that the political structure needed more drastic change if he wanted Leylandiistan to be more active and progressive. The final straw for him was when the Judicial System Act which had been proposed by Ruairí de Créag failed in the final voting stage because not enough votes were cast by National Assembly members. He began drafting a new Constitution along with de Créag, and a referendum was held. The vast majority supported the new constitution, which scrapped the old National Assembly and replaced it with a new one. His new model decentralised power from the National Assembly, giving regional legislatures to each territory with an array of new powers. But midway through the implementation of all the changes, de Créag announced a hiatus. It would be months before Ó Cathail would see him again. In the meantime, he drafted a number of bills to complete the implementation of the Constitution. When the National Assembly finally convened on 24 July 2014, Ó Cathail and de Créag began a heated discussion on Leylandiistan's future, resulting in Robinscourt Autonomous Republic's withdrawal from Leylandiistan. This event became known as the Division of Leylandiistan. He engaged thereafter in discussions with a neighbouring micronationalist Pádraig Ó Ceocháin to negotiate a merger with Gurvata. This took place after a final round of negotiations on 30 August 2014. The resulting Confederation of Leylandiistan and Gurvata became a diarchy, with one representative from both nations becoming head of state.

Confederation of Leylandiistan & Gurvata

After the Treaty of Union, several major developments occurred. Ó Cathail co-ordinated the annexation of Dooneen Cove Island, which in September became the first territory of the Confederation outside the two main regions. In October, taxation was introduced in the form of a National Contribution Charge. Ó Cathail put into effect his strong views on sensible and sustainable agriculture by putting in place strong regulations in the form of the Agricultural Regulations Act 2015, which favoured organic over chemical agriculture, and funded small farmers. Ó Ceocháin and Ó Cathail released the very first National Budget in May 2015, allocating funds to various schemes within the Confederation. He agreed with Ó Ceocháin to dissolve the Confederation in September 2016 and both signed the Treaty of Dissolution on 14 September 2016, thus ending his time as a micronationalist.

Role in the GUM

In January 2014, Leylandiistan joined the GUM, and Ó Cathail became Leylandiistan's main delegate. In March 2014 he ran for the position of Media Secretary in the GUM, and succeeded. He ran successfully for a second term in June, and continued to serve in this role until the end of his term in September. As Media Secretary he managed the GUM's acquisition of the news.micronation.org site. He regularly updated the site during his tenure as Media Secretary. After completing his second term he announced he wasn't seeking a third term as Media Secretary. However, on 14 September 2014, the incoming chair of the GUM, Adam Belcher, nominated Ó Cathail as his Vice Chair, receiving unanimous support from the Quorum of Delegates. He continued to represent Leylandiistan & Gurvata in the GUM after the Treaty of Union was signed between the two nations until the GUM ceased to function as a formal organisation in June 2015. When the GUM restarted in April 2016, Ó Cathail received the support of the majority of the Quorum to serve as Vice-Chair, a position he held until resigning ahead of his country's dissolution in September 2016.

Mercia

Ó Cathail became a Mercian citizen in December 2014. He joined the newly formed National Liberal Party of Mercia, and was soon elected Party Leader unopposed. In the lead up to the Mercian general election of May 2015, he took part in the Mercian Leader's Debate with the leader of the Humanist People's Alliance, Newton von Uberquie. He took a seat on behalf of the party in the May 2015 election in the constituency of Kernolland. The National Liberals took 6 out of 11 seats during the election, thus forming a majority. As leader of the National Liberal Party, Baron Ó Cathail became the first democratically elected First Minister in Mercian history. In his first term his government passed essential legislation, for example relinquishing New Israel as a Mercian territory. In November his government was re-elected with a bigger majority, having promised to hold a referendum on exiting the Wurtige Empire. This referendum was held in February 2016, with a landslide victory for the "Yes" side after Ó Cathail organised cross-party support for exiting the Empire. However, inactivity within the NLP party combined with new left-wing parties putting forward more candidates led to the NLP losing their majority in the May 2016 election. Ó Cathail resigned as NLP leader, leaving Horatio Eden to form a minority administration. After serving briefly as Foreign Minister, Eden's government collapsed a week when the opposition won a no-confidence motion. Ó Cathail also briefly served as Synod Representative in the Mercian coalition government.

Ashukovo

Ó Cathail was formerly an Ashukov politician. He assisted Sigmund Schmidt in running the Federal Territory of Neue Kronstadt, serving for a while as the territory's deputy governor, before transferring his citizenship to Montania. There, he was elected to the Ashukov Federal Assembly as a National Party of Ashukovo candidate. He served for a short time as Deputy Foreign Minister there, until Ashukovo became a Tsardom in October 2014, after which he revoked his Ashukov citizenship.

Positions held

Positions currently holding

Awards

On 20 September 2014, he was awarded the title of Officer of the Austenasian Order, awarded by Emperor Jonathan I as part of the annual Austenasian Independence Day honours list.