Chris Andrews (born 25 May 1964) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

politician who has been 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 Dublin Bay South constituency since the 2020 general election, and previously from 2007 to 2011 as a

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 Christia ...

TD for the Dublin South-East constituency.

Early life and family

He is the grandson of

Todd Andrews Christopher Stephen Andrews (Todd) (6 October 1901 – 11 October 1985) was a noted public servant. He participated in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War as a political and military activist in the Irish Republican movement. Todd And ...

, a leading Irish republican figure and member of

following the foundation of the party. His father Niall Andrews and his uncle David Andrews both served as Fianna Fáil TDs, while his first cousin Barry Andrews was elected a Fianna Fáil TD at the 2002 general election and is now an MEP. He was the fourth member of his family to have sat in the Dáil. He is a cousin of the comedy writer and performer

David McSavage David Andrews (born 5 February 1966), known professionally as David McSavage, is an Irish stand-up comedian, comedy writer and street performer, known for his television show "The Savage Eye".Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973), nicknamed 'Tubs ' is an Irish broadcaster. He presents ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' and '' The Late Late Show''. Tubridy previously presented RTÉ 2fm breakfast radio show ''The Full Irish'', which at its end was ...

, is a chat show host of '' The Late Late Show'' on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

. Andrews is married with two daughters. Andrews graduated from

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It w ...

with a degree in community and youth work.

Political career

In May 2007, Andrews topped the poll in the Dublin South-East constituency, on his second attempt, gaining 6,600 first preferences. He was a member of

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

between 1999 to 2004, 2006 to 2007 and 2014 to 2020. He was convenor of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, and was a member of the Trade, Enterprise and Employment Committee and the European Scrutiny Committee in the

30th Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

Support for Palestine

During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict he called for an economic, diplomatic and political boycott of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, for its ambassador to Ireland to be expelled, and for shops to remove "settler produce" from Israel. He said that Israel had the right to defend itself, but that its disproportionate response meant that "...it can only now be classified as a terror state". He later told a Russian reporter that there was no electricity in Gaza throughout his time there. On 30 May 2010, he was one of three Irish politicians who were prevented from leaving

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

by authorities to join an international flotilla carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. In March 2011, Andrews set off on another flotilla to Gaza. His shipmates included

's Aengus Ó Snodaigh. In November 2011, Andrews was reported to be on board another ship heading to Gaza on a humanitarian mission.

Twitter account controversy and departure from Fianna Fáil

In the aftermath of the 2011 general election, in which he and many other Fianna Fáil members lost their seats as TDs,

were struggling in the polls. In August 2012, Andrews left the Fianna Fáil party. He claims that he was disillusioned with the lack of direction the party was taking after it was revealed he had been using a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account to anonymously attack party leader

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

and other senior members, including a constituency rival, Councillor

Jim O'Callaghan Jim O'Callaghan (born 5 January 1968) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since the 2016 general election. Legal career O'Callaghan has a BCL degree from University Colle ...

. Andrews claimed that his decision to quit the party was not related to the Twitter account even though his resignation followed two days after he had been confronted about his online trolling activity and cyberbullying of party colleagues.

As a member of Sinn Féin

In September 2013, he joined

and successfully contested the 2014 local elections for the Pembroke South Dock local electoral area of Dublin City Council for the party. In February 2015, he was selected to contest the new constituency of Dublin Bay South at the 2016 general election; however, he failed to be elected. He was the Sinn Féin candidate for the Dublin Bay South constituency at the 2020 general election and was elected. Daniel Ceitinn was co-opted to Andrews' seat on Dublin City Council following his election to the Dáil. In December 2020, Andrews apologised for liking tweets about

Laurel Hubbard Laurel Hubbard (born 9 February 1978) is a New Zealand weightlifter. Selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she was the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Prior to making her Olympic debut, Hubbard achieved ...

that were perceived as transphobic by transgender rights campaigners, which misgendered Hubbard and referred to her as "this guy".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Chris 1964 births Living people

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...