Ian McGarvey (born July 1929) is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er and former politician. He is a member of

Donegal County Council Donegal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún na nGall) is the authority responsible for local government in County Donegal, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hou ...

, representing the

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

Electoral Area. Due to his age (his political career peaking while an

octogenarian Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

) he is often portrayed as an

underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

, "They're always writing me off. I don't worry about that", he once said after being re-elected. He has a special interest in the elderly, and has attracted attention after describing cuts to their care as a form of " euthanasia". He did a noteworthy dance after being re-elected in 2014. McGarvey has lived at Moorfield in

Ramelton Ramelton (; ), also Rathmelton, is a town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. , its population was 1,266. History Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km south of Milford, on th ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, for more than 50 years. In April 2013, in the early hours, his home was attacked with stones and with spray, prompting police intervention. McGarvey spent a year working in Germany in 1960. He played

for Swilly Rovers and captained them to the FAI Junior Cup in 1962. He has been a

teetotaller Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

(abstaining from alcohol) throughout his life. He is related to

Martin Docherty-Hughes Martin John Docherty-Hughes (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish National Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dunbartonshire since 2015. Early life and education Docherty-Hughes was raised by his parents in Cly ...

. Aged 82, McGarvey became Ireland's oldest

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and Donegal County Council's first Independent Mayor in June 2013, succeeding Frank McBrearty Jnr. Aged 85, he became Ireland's oldest ever general election candidate at the 2016 election. Having earlier been Mayor of County Donegal, McGarvey became Mayor of Letterkenny in June 2018 - he succeeded either Gerry McMonagle of

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 ...

''or'' Jimmy Kavanagh of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

in that role. McGarvey was at this time approaching his 88th birthday and broke his own mayoral record set five years earlier. As Mayor of Letterkenny, McGarvey - at this stage aged 89 - returned to Germany for the first time since 1960, visiting the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

n twin town of

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide v ...

and having a

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

there dedicated to him and his wife Marjorie and a plaque erected at a

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

. He retired from politics in February 2023. His nephew Pauric McGarvey was co-opted to Donegal County Council to replace him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgarvey, Ian 1930s births Living people Association footballers from County Donegal Independent politicians in Ireland Irish sportsperson-politicians Members of Donegal County Council Mayors of Letterkenny Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland People from Ramelton Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Swilly Rovers F.C. players Men's association football players not categorized by position