Brendan Kenneally (born 1 April 1955) is a former Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

politician. He was a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

constituency, he was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

at the 1989 general election. In February 1992, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications by the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...

, serving until January 1993. He was re-elected at subsequent elections until his defeat at the 2002 general election. He then became a member of the 22nd Seanad,

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

. He regained his Dáil seat at the 2007 general election. Kenneally's father Billy Kenneally also served as a TD for Waterford from 1965 to 1982, and his grandfather William Kenneally served as a TD for Waterford from 1952 to 1961. The ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tab ...

'' reported that while a senator, between 2005 and 2007, Kenneally ran up total expenses amounting to €139,189. On 3 August 2009, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' revealed that Kenneally was one of the TDs with the highest expense claims in Dáil Éireann in 2008. He claimed €73,857 in expenses. He lost his seat at the 2011 general election. In 2016, after his cousin was convicted of 1980s sexual abuse of boys, Brendan Kenneally revealed that he had been approached in 2002 by one victim's family but had not informed the Garda because the victim did not want him to. This caused controversy in 2020 for Mary Butler, his successor as Waterford Fianna Fáil TD, who apologised for allowing him to

canvass Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...

for her in the general election and for renting an office from him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenneally, Brendan 1955 births Living people Fianna Fáil TDs Local councillors in County Waterford Mayors of Waterford Members of the 22nd Seanad Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Ministers of State of the 26th Dáil Politicians from County Waterford Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Fianna Fáil senators Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology

See also

References