Miche? Martin was born in Cork. He was the son of Paddy Martin, an international boxer. He was educated locally and at University College Cork and went on to become a secondary school teacher. From 1989 to 1999 he served as a Fianna F?l member on Cork Corporation and in 1991 he became Lord Mayor of Cork City. In 1989 he was elected to the D?l ?reann as a Fianna F?l TD. In 1995 he became opposition spokesman for education and automatically became Minister for Education when Fianna F?l came to power in 1997. He was regarded as being an excellent minister doing well for the education sector. In 2000 he was appointed Minister for Health, something of a poisoned chalice for a TD with leadership ambitions. Both Miche? Martin and the Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, are seen as the two possible contenders to succeed Bertie Ahern as leader of Fianna F?l.