Matt Shanahan (born 19 May 1964) is an Irish Independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency since the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

Before politics

Matt Shanahan was born in 1964. His father was a doctor in Ardkeen Hospital, and his mother was a home economics teacher by profession. Shanahan attended St Augustine's College, Dungarvan. He worked for Dawn Meats and in the United States before receiving a degree in marketing in Morehampton College, Dublin and moving back to Waterford. In 2004, Shanahan founded Velocity Media, a Waterford-based

mobile billboard A mobile billboard, also known as a "digital billboard truck", is a device used for advertising on the sides of a truck or trailer that is typically mobile. Mobile billboards are a form of transit media; static billboards, and mall/airport adver ...

company. He has also done consultancy in digital marketing and advising

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

es on applying for state and EU grants.

Political career

According to the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'', Shanahan has "strong Fine Gael ties". In 2012, he founded South East Hospitals Action Alliance, an

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

to protest downgrading of Waterford Regional Hospital (now University Hospital Waterford, UHW) in the 2012 budget. In 2016, he founded Health Equality For the South East, to improve UHW cardiology services with a second cath lab and 24/7

percutaneous coronary intervention Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease. The process involves combining coronary angioplasty with stenting, which is the ...

capability. In December 2018, Mary Roche, an independent Waterford City and County Councillor resigned her seat in the Waterford City East local electoral area. She nominated Shanahan to replace her. In line with the local rules requiring a vote to be held in place of a co-optation, a convention was held on 10 January 2019 and the remaining councillors duly voted 25–5 on to co-opt Shanahan to Roche's vacant seat, with Sinn Féin councillors voting against his nomination. He retained his seat in the 2019 local elections, topping the poll, and commenting, "it's not a strong vote for Matt Shanahan, it's a strong vote on the whole hospital issue here in the South-East". Mary Roche, the former independent councillor from which Shanahan inherited his seat, was co-opted to Shanahan's seat on Waterford City and County Council following his election to the Dáil. On 14 January 2020, Shanahan announced he would be standing in the general election to be held on 8 February. While '' The Irish Times'' said he was 'seen as the single-issue "hospital candidate"', Shanahan also mentioned university status for Waterford Institute of Technology and "the increasing inequality glaringly apparent between economic measures and development in the South East versus similar city regions in Ireland". He was elected on the seventh count.

Personal life

Shanahan and his wife Elaine have three children. He has coached underage

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 ...

at Ballygunner GAA. In 2021, Shanahan was the subject of controversy after he made a post on Twitter in response to a woman sharing her experience of being harassed, for which he was accused of " victim blaming".

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