Joseph Costello (born 13 July 1945) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been 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 wa ...

since 2019. He served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

from 2011 to 2014. He was 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 Central constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2016. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel () 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 Administrative Panel elects seven senators. Election ...

from 1989 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2002. During his time as councilor, he was Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin to then Lord Mayor

Alison Gilliland Alison Gilliland (born 1968) is an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2021 to 2022. In June 2021, she was elected as the 353rd Lord Mayor of Dublin, succeeding Hazel Chu. Gilliland was elected unopposed, and ...

from 2021 to 2022.

Early life

Costello was born in

Geevagh Geevagh () is a village in the south-east corner of County Sligo, Ireland, on the R284 regional road. The name, meaning "the windy (place)", describes a climatic feature of the village and its surrounding countryside. The name Geevagh also r ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

and was educated at

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr La ...

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

and

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 collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. He worked as a secondary school teacher before becoming a full-time public representative.

Career

He was a member of Dublin City Council from 1999 until the end of the dual mandate led to him passing the seat to his wife Emer Costello. He was re-elected to the Council in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

He joined the Labour Party in 1985, and in 1989 he was elected to the

19th Seanad Éireann This is a list of the members of the 19th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1989, after the 1989 general election and served until the close of poll for the ...

as a Senator for the

. He remained there until the 1992 general election when he was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

. Costello lost his seat at the 1997 general election but was subsequently elected to the Seanad again. Costello was re-elected to the Dáil at the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

general elections. He was director of elections for

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

during the 2011 presidential election. On 20 December 2011, he was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour government as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade and Development, a position he served in until 15 July 2014. He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014. He was then appointed to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. Costello made national headlines in 2017 when he said a snap election could breach the Irish Constitution, as constituencies needed to be revised to take account of changes in population in the 2016 Census. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Central constituency at the 2020 general election.

Personal life

His wife Emer Costello is a former MEP for Dublin.

References

External links

Joe Costello's page on the Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Joe 1945 births Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of University College Dublin Irish schoolteachers Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in Dublin (city) Members of the 19th Seanad Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil People educated at Summerhill College Politicians from County Sligo Labour Party (Ireland) senators