John Leahy is an Irish independent politician who served as leader of

Renua Renua Ireland, commonly called Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton as founding leader. Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ireland. Th ...

from 2016 to 2019. A local

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for Birr, on

Offaly County Council Offaly County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Uíbh Fhailí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Offaly, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housi ...

, he was first elected in 2009 as an Independent. He was re-elected topping the poll in 2014. Leahy joined Renua at its foundation in 2015 and stood unsuccessfully in the 2016 general election. He was eliminated on the fifth count with 6,588 votes. Leahy was elected leader of Renua on 3 September 2016, succeeding

Lucinda Creighton Lucinda Creighton (born 20 January 1980) is an Irish businesswoman and former politician, who served as Minister of State for European Affairs from 2011 to 2013. She was leader of Renua from its March 2015 foundation until May 2016, and served a ...

. Prior to being leader of Renua, Leahy worked as a GAA Coaching and Games Promotion Officer, he has also contributed as a

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

analyst on

Midlands 103 Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local independent radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath. The station's offices and main broadcast studios are in Tullamore, County Offaly. It also ...

. Leahy voiced his support for the legalisation of prostitution in Ireland in an interview with ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

''. In the same interview stated his belief that "all religions are equal" and spoke of losing his virginity (at the age of 21), along with other personal details of his life. Following

Peter Casey Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

's performance in the 2018 presidential election, there were reports that Leahy would step aside should Casey decide to join Renua. Leahy later clarified that "I’ve no plan to stand down," adding "but if he wants to come in and help out, I’ve no difficulties with that." Leahy resigned from Renua in June 2019 following the party's poor performance in the local elections. He was an independent candidate for the Laois–Offaly constituency at the 2020 general election. He received five per cent of the first preference vote and failed to be elected.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, John Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Local councillors in County Offaly Independent politicians in Ireland Renua Ireland politicians Year of birth missing (living people)