Michael Dawson is a businessman and former politician from

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

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 separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He is the founder and CEO of Gift Voucher Shop.

Career

Dawson served briefly as 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 ...

in 1989, when he was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

to the

18th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 18th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1987, after the 1987 general election and served until the close of poll for the ...

to fill a vacancy after the 1989 general election. In 2002, he founded he Gift Voucher Shop (GVS), an international company that created the Multi-Retailer Gift Card. Dawson was one of finalists in the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year programme. In 2010, he was named "Fingal Business Person of the Year" at the Business Excellence Awards 2010. In November 2018, Dawson sold his share of the Gift Voucher Shop to Fintech Blackhawk Network when the company purchased the One4all gift voucher business.

Personal life

He lives in Malahide, County Dublin. Dawson was married to Pauline and together they had three sons. Pauline died in 2014 from cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Businesspeople from County Dublin Irish chief executives Members of the 18th Seanad Politicians from County Dublin Fianna Fáil senators Nominated members of Seanad Éireann