Laois town's strong family ties to Pascal Donohoe

A man with Laois roots became the second most senior officer in the World Bank on Monday.

Paschal Donohoe, the son of a Laois Stena Line worker, announced on Tuesday, 18 November that he was “departing from public life in Ireland” to take up the position of managing director and chief knowledge officer at the global financial institution.

Mr Donohoe was born in 1974 in Phibsborough, Co Dublin and served as a TD for Dublin Central from 2011 until his resignation in 2025.

His late father Jimmy Donohoe was originally from Mountmellick, Co Laois and his mother Caitlín was born in Roscommon. Mr Donohoe’s grandfather was a stationmaster in Co Meath.

His father rented marquees and tents on top of his job at Stena-Sealink, and Paschal said he spent summers helping his dad at parties and agricultural fairs, learning the value of hard work.

Mr Donohoe went to school at St Declan's CBS in Cabra and took to debating. Upon finishing my school, he won a scholarship to Trinity College Dublin, where he studied politics and economics and was the secretary of the Philosophical Society.