John Whelan (born 24 March 1961) is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Labour Party politician and former member of
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 ...
.
A former journalist, Whelan was editor of the ''
Leinster Express
The ''Leinster Express'' is a regional newspaper in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is sep ...
'' newspaper. He joined the Labour Party in 2010 and was selected as that party's candidate for the
Laois–Offaly constituency at the
2011 general election.
The selection convention was highly controversial, with the convention itself ending after 15 minutes in "total chaos".
A number of members left the Labour Party and joined the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
and contested the constituency unsuccessfully while a number of others canvassed for Sinn Féin candidate
Brian Stanley.
Whelan polled 5,802 votes (7.8%) being beaten to the final seat by 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 ...
's Seán Fleming
Seán Fleming (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs since December 2022. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from ...
.[
He was elected 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 ...
on 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.
...
in April 2011. In 2016, he again unsuccessfully ran for a Dáil seat in Laois.
Whelan works as a PR consultant as Communicate Ireland along with journalist John Drennan
John Drennan (real name Sean Armstrong) is an Irish political journalist and writer. He is a columnist for the ''Sunday Independent'', an occasional TV panelist and a frequent contributor to radio shows. From County Laois he was educated at St. P ...
.About Us
Communicate Ireland.
References
External links
John Whelan's page on the Labour Party website
1961 births
Living people
Irish journalists
Irish newspaper editors
Labour Party (Ireland) senators
Members of the 24th Seanad
Politicians from County Laois
{{Ireland-senator-stub