Editing Seán MacEntee (section)

===Politician in the Free State===
After his release from prison, MacEntee devoted himself more fully to his engineering practice, although he unsuccessfully contested [[Dublin County (Dáil constituency)|Dublin County by-election of 1924]]. He became a founder-member of [[Fianna Fáil]] in 1926 and was eventually elected a [[Teachta Dála|TD]] for Dublin County at the [[June 1927 Irish general election|1927 general election]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1232|title=Seán MacEntee|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=13 February 2012|archive-date=12 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412053507/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1232|url-status=live}}</ref>

MacEntee founded the Association of Patent Agents in 1929, having gained his interest in Patents when he worked as an assistant engineer in Dundalk Urban District Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aptma.ie/history.htm|title=Association of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys – APTMA Ireland|website=www.aptma.ie|access-date=13 February 2012|archive-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512025033/http://www.aptma.ie/history.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> On MacEntee's appointment as Minister for Finance in 1932, his colleague, Francis Litton who was acting as Secretary of the Association, circulated the members with a notice to the effect that the Association was "suspended" until MacEntee could return as he now had to devote his energies to the affairs of the State. However, the other members decided to carry on. MacEntee must have valued his status as a Patent Agent since he maintained his name on the Register for over 30 years while he held Ministerial rank in the Irish Government, although he is not thought to have taken any active part in the patent business, which was carried on by his business partners.