Conor Lenihan (born 3 March 1963) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Minister of State from 2004 to 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1997 to 2011. He was from 2011 to 2015 a Vice President of the Skolkovo Foundation, the coordination body for a planned high-tech innovation centre on the edge of Moscow, where he worked on international partnership development. Early and personal life Lenihan was born in Dublin in 1963. He lived in Athlone until he was 11 years of age. He was educated at Belvedere College, University College Dublin (where he was chair of the Kevin Barry Cumann of Ógra Fianna Fáil), Dublin City University and the INSEAD. Lenihan began his working life as a newspaper journalist working in the 1980s in the House of Commons in London, where he was a political correspondent for the Irish News. While in London he was also a member of the European Commission's Speakers Panel. In the 1990s, he went into broadcast journalism working with the Dublin radio station 98FM. Lenihan also worked as a senior executive with O2, an Irish-owned mobile operator, and subsequently worked as an advisor for the company. Lenihan is the son of former Tánaiste, TD and Minister Brian Lenihan. His grandfather, Patrick Lenihan, also served in the Oireachtas. His aunt, Mary O'Rourke, is a former TD, Senator and Minister, while his brother, Brian Lenihan Jnr was a TD and Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011 during the Irish economic downturn. Lenihan was diagnosed with a benign tumour in 2007. Lenihan was also the editor of The Nation, the official publication of the Fianna Fáil party. Political career Lenihan was first elected to the Dáil at the 1997 general election. In a reshuffle in October 2004, he was appointed by Bertie Ahern as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Overseas Development and Human Rights. Lenihan restructured Ireland's international aid programme, creating Irish Aid, the Irish Government's programme of assistance to developing countries. Through Irish Aid, Lenihan administered a budget of almost a billion euros which is used to help developing nations thus continuing Ireland's tradition of reaching out to other post-colonial nations. In June 2007, when a new coalition government was formed by Ahern after the election, he was appointed as Minister of State at