Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a
Circuit Court judge and a former politician.
A native of
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/N1 ...
, he first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defence.
He was first 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 r ...
as a
Workers' Party Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms s ...
(TD) for the
Dublin North-East constituency at the
1987 general election.
He was re-elected at the
1989 general election.
In 1992 he joined with
Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa (born 15 May 1940) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Social Welfare from 1994 to 1997, Leader of Democratic Left from 1992 to 1999 and Leader of the Workers' Party from 1988 to 1992. He s ...
and five other Workers' Party deputies in resigning from the Workers' Party and in the creation of a new party, New Agenda which subsequently became
Democratic Left. He stood as a Democratic Left candidate at the
1992 general election but lost his seat.
After the collapse of the 1992–1994
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtà Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...
–
Labour Party coalition government Democratic Left joined in a new coalition with
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 ...
and the Labour Party. This government subsequently appointed McCartan to the bench as a Circuit Court judge.
He retired as a judge in August 2016.
References
1953 births
Living people
Local councillors in Dublin (city)
Democratic Left (Ireland) TDs
Circuit Court (Ireland) judges
Members of the 25th Dáil
Members of the 26th Dáil
People from County Wexford
Workers' Party of Ireland TDs
Irish solicitors
{{TeachtaDála-stub