Willie O’Dea was born in Limerick in November 1952 and was educated at Patrician Brothers College, Ballyfin, Co. Laois, UCD and Kings Inns and at the Institute of Certified Accountants.
He was first elected to the Dáil in February 1982 for the Limerick East constituency. In the 2007 General Election, Mr O’Dea secured the second highest first preference vote in the country .
He was appointed Minister of State at Dept of Justice, Equality & Law Reform with special responsibility for Equality Issues in June 2002. He had previously served as a Minister of State at the Department of Education, July 1997. Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Health 1993 - 1994. Minister of State at the Department of Justice 1992 - 1993.
He was appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Defence in September 2004 and was reappointed to the same office following the June 2007 General Election.
In November 2005, with gangland killings at their highest level in history, pictures of the minister grinning and pointing a pistol at a photographer during an exercise at the Curragh camp in Co Kildare were splashed across the national press.
Mr O'Dea apologised for the picture and insisted he had not intended to glamorise gun crime.
With a sea of controversy over the latest revelations, the Dáil veteran and minister of five and a half years has finally been forced to bite the bullet.