After 26 years as a TD in Dáil Éireann, including 13 years as a member of the cabinet, Simon Coveney announced he will not contest the next general election.
He said it was time to step out of politics and seek new horizons.
Mr Coveney was first elected in a 1998 by-election after the death of his father Hugh Coveney, who himself was a sitting Fine Gael TD.
He continuously held the seat - including following Fine Gael's disastrous 2002 general election.
Mr Coveney also retained it while he was a MEP between 2004 and 2007.
Following Fine Gael and Labour's success in the 2011 election, then taoiseach Enda Kenny appointed Simon Coveney as minister for agriculture.
In 2014, he was given the additional portfolio of minister for defence following a cabinet reshuffle.
He held both positions until the end of the 31st Dáil.
After the 2016 general election, he was given the position of minister for housing by Enda Kenny.
However the following year, Mr Kenny stepped down as both taoiseach and Fine Gael leader and Simon Coveney ran for the leadership.
From the Archives: Simon Coveney wins 1998 Cork South Central by-election
Despite winning the majority of the party membership, he lost the contest to Leo Varadkar who won the majority of elected representatives.
Mr Varadkar appointed him as minister for foreign affairs with special responsibility for Brexit.
He remained in the role for five years, during which he helped navigate Brexit negotiations and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Coveney was subsequently appointed tánaiste following the resignation of Frances Fitzgerald at the end of 2017.
Following the 2020 election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil entered government together for the first time in the history of the state.
He was reappointed as minister for foreign affairs by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin - a constituency colleague in Cork South Central - following Mr Martin's election as taoiseach.
During this time, he struck up a strong relationship with then UK northern secretary Julian Smith.
Together they broke an impasse to restore the Stormont Assembly in 2020 following a three-year collapse as the result of a row between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
The new agreement, called 'New decade, New approach', focused on "delivering what matters to citizens in Northern Ireland" - including better public services, a stronger economy and a fairer society.
The deal also offered a "new cultural framework" that will included a new Office for Identity and Cultural Expression.
However in 2021, Mr Coveney apologised to an Oireachtas committee over what he described as the "political fiasco" surrounding the appointment of former cabinet minister Katherine Zappone to a UN role.
Mr Coveney denied suggestions that Ms Zappone lobbied him for the position, telling an Oireachtas committee that he alone made the decision.
Sinn Féin tabled a no-confidence motion over the handling of Ms Zappone’s appointment - a vote the Government won by 92 votes to 59.
When Leo Varadkar returned to the role as taoiseach in 2022, Mr Martin took over as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr Coveney moved to Enterprise.
He announced in April this year he would step down from the Cabinet following Simon Harris becoming Taoiseach.
On his decision not to seek re-election for the Dáil, Mr Coveney said he has been in politics his entire working life and has held many positions "that I could never have dreamt of".
He said that when there was a leadership change in Fine Gael he had made his mind up "quite some time ago" that he would not contest for leadership again.
"It was very clear to me that Fine Gael needed renewal, needed new faces, new talent coming through... what Simon Harris is doing for the party - to re-energise it, to freshen it up, to bring through new people, new faces, new voices, new ideas - that's the right thing to do," Mr Coveney added.
