Dominic Hannigan (born 10 July 1965) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as 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 Meath East constituency from 2011 to 2016. He was a Senator for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

from 2007 to 2011.

Early life

Hannigan was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He was educated at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

with a degree in Civil Engineering, at

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

with a Masters in Transport and at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

with a Masters in Finance. He emigrated from Ireland in the 1980s to look for work. Hannigan returned to Ireland and worked as a Civil engineer.

Political career

Early years: 2004–2007

Hannigan entered electoral politics when he was elected as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillor to

Meath County Council Meath County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae na Mí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

for the

Slane Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 ( Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2016 cen ...

electoral area at the 2004 local elections, serving as chairperson of the council's Planning and Economic Development Committee. Hannigan subsequently joined the Labour Party in October 2004, and first stood for Dáil Éireann at the 2005 Meath by-election, which saw the Labour vote increase by over 3,000 first preference votes since the 2002 general election. His next election was the 2007 general election, again missing out on the third seat, this time to Thomas Byrne.

Seanad Éireann: 2007–2011

As part of an election pact between Labour and

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 ...

for the 2007 elections to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

, Hannigan was elected on the first count to the

Industrial and Commercial Panel The Industrial and Commercial Panel ( ga, An Rolla Tionscail Agus Tráchtála) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The In ...

of the Seanad. In Seanad Éireann he was the Labour Party Whip and spokesperson on Commuter Issues, Environment and Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Defence. He was one of the first members of the Oireachtas to support the candidacy of

Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to: * Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name * Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist * ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II *"Éam ...

, following the resignation of

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...

as leader of the Labour Party on 23 August 2007. He subsequently became the chairman of Eamon Gilmore's leadership campaign to become leader. In September 2007 he submitted proposals to the Department of Environment and Local Government for town councils for Ashbourne and the Meath coastal area, and called for the abolition of county managers. Hannigan said in 2011 that population growth during the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by a subseque ...

years was more dramatic in Meath than elsewhere in Ireland and that this was having a profound effect on the county's education system. He spoke in favour of a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Slane bypass in February 2011.

Dáil Éireann: 2011–2016

At the 2011 general election Hannigan topped the poll in Meath East. In doing so Hannigan became one of the first two openly gay people to be elected to Dáil Éireann, a distinction he shares with Dublin North-West's John Lyons. The ''

Meath Chronicle The ''Meath Chronicle'' is a local newspaper serving County Meath, Ireland and based in the town of Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the ...

'' compared Hannigan to

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fas ...

as he "flitted at high speed from one spot to the next" on the campaign trail. He was "followed by a large posse of journalists and camera crews" when party leader Eamon Gilmore joined him during the campaign. Hannigan was elected Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

in June 2011. He was elected Chairman of the Joint Committee on EU Affairs in January 2012, following which he stepped down as Chairman of the Good Friday Agreement Committee. In a television interview broadcast in April 2012, he confirmed that the 99.8% state-owned bank

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...

had paid one-and-a-half billion Euro to unsecured bank bondholders for which neither the bank nor the Irish state had no legal liability. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He unsuccessfully contested the 2020 Seanad election. Hannigan is a director of the Lough Mask Distillery

Personal life

Hannigan is openly gay.

References

External links

Dominic Hannigan's page on Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannigan, Dominic 1965 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Gay politicians Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in County Meath Members of the 23rd Seanad Members of the 31st Dáil People from Drogheda Politicians from County Louth Labour Party (Ireland) senators LGBT legislators in Ireland Irish gay men 20th-century Irish LGBT people 21st-century Irish LGBT people