Martin Kenny (born 1 October 1971) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

politician who has been 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 Sligo–Leitrim constituency since the 2016 general election.

Career

Kenny became a member of Leitrim County Council in 2001, when he was co-opted to replace Liam McGirl, the son of former

TD John Joe McGirl.

Harassment and attacks

In May 2016, Kenny alleged a number of serious instances of misconduct within the Garda Síochána. The main allegations included that gardaí were engaging informants who were active criminals, outside the Garda Covert Human Intelligence Sources programme. He also mentioned a number of instances including "robberies allegedly carried out by informants under the direction of gardaí", cases of entrapment made at the behest of Garda handlers, and an instance where "senior gardaí did not inform other members of the force of plans by a criminal gang to carry out attacks at the homes of gardaí". He also stated that two Gardaí had brought this to the attention of both Martin Callinan (former Commissioner of the Garda Síochána) and the former

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, Alan Shatter, but their concerns were ignored. In October 2019, Kenny said he had received death threats after he spoke out in Dáil Eireann against far-right elements in Irish society using

anti-immigrant Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

rhetoric. Kenny's remarks were spurred by the aftermath of the 2019 Grays incident, and recent protests against the building of a Direct Provision centre in his own constituency in

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

as well other protests in Ireland against the construction of Direct Provision centres. On 28 October 2019, Kenny's car was set ablaze outside his family home. In an interview with Ocean FM he described the arson attack as "traumatic" and feared that he was facing the same fate as Kevin Lunney. In October 2021, a threat of gun violence was made to Kenny's office.

References

External links

Martin Kenny's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Martin 1971 births Living people Local councillors in County Leitrim Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Alumni of the Institute of Technology, Sligo