Liam Twomey (born 3 April 1967) is a medical doctor and former Irish
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 à ...
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
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
constituency from 2002 to 2007 and 2011 to 2016.
Early life and education
Twomey was born in Bealad,
Clonakilty
Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population as of 2016 was 4,592. Th ...
in
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae ChorcaÃ) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
. He was educated at St. Finbarr's Seminary and
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
. He is married to Elizabeth O'Sullivan and they have three children.
Career
He worked as a
General practitioner (GP) before entering public office in 2002. Before his election 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 ...
, Twomey was Chairman of the Wexford Branch of the
Irish Medical Organisation
The Irish Medical Organisation (Irish: ''Ceardchumann Dhochtúirà na hÉireann'' ) is a professional association for doctors in Ireland, and is also a trade union representing doctors in negotiations with the Irish government.
The IMO was form ...
.
Politics
At the
2002 general election, Twomey was elected to the Dáil 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 ...
TD for the Wexford constituency, on a campaign of highlighting the deficiencies in the Irish health service.
He joined
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 à ...
in September 2004. He was the opposition spokesperson on
Health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
from 2004 to 2007.
He lost his seat at the
2007 general election, being eliminated after the 6th count. He was subsequently elected to the
23rd Seanad
This is a list of the members of the 23rd Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected from 24 July 2007 onwards after postal voting closed. The Taoiseach's nominees were announced on ...
in July 2007 for the
Cultural and Educational Panel
The Cultural and Educational 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 Cultural and Educational Panel elects five ...
.
[ He was the Fine Gael Finance Spokesperson in the Seanad from 2007 to 2011.
At the 2011 general election he was again elected as a TD for Wexford.][
Twomey represented Fine Gael in the ]Oireachtas
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...
delegation that met the Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
's Budgetary and European Affairs committees in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in late January 2012. In January 2015 he was appointed Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Finance Public Expenditure and Reform.
On 17 July 2015 he announced that he would not stand in the 2016 general election.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twomey, Liam
1967 births
Living people
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Fine Gael TDs
Independent TDs
Members of the 23rd Seanad
Members of the 29th Dáil
Members of the 31st Dáil
Politicians from County Cork
21st-century Irish medical doctors
Fine Gael senators