Patrick McKee (born 15 June 1988) is an Irish former politician. He is a member of

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 Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

, and was formerly a member of

Renua Renua Ireland, commonly called Renua, is a fringe list of political parties in the Republic of Ireland, political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael Teachta Dála, TD Lucinda Creighton as founding le ...

and was their candidate in the 2015 Carlow-Kilkenny Dáil by-election.

Background

McKee was born in June 1988. He attended secondary school at St Kieran's College until 2006, going on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Law and Business from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2010. In 2011 he received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

. In 2012 McKee began work as a trainee solicitor at W.A. Smithwick & Son, Solicitors, in

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

. McKee publicly came out as a gay man in 2011 during an interview on local radio.

Political career

In 2006, McKee joined

Ógra Fianna Fáil Ógra Fianna Fáil(; meaning "Youth of Fianna Fáil") is the youth wing of Fianna Fáil. The organisation was founded in 1975 by party leader Jack Lynch under the guidance of party general secretary, Séamus Brennan. It is active on an all-Ir ...

, the youth wing of

, and established the Thomas Francis Meagher Cumann during his time in WIT. During his time in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

he worked closely with former Minister for Transport

Martin Cullen Martin Cullen (born 2 November 1954) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism from 2008 to 2010, Minister for Social and Family Affairs from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Transport from 2004 to ...

TD. McKee held positions both locally and nationally in Ógra Fianna Fáil. He was elected

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

representative on Ógra Fianna Fáil's National Youth Committee in 2011. During 2010 McKee worked as an intern in Seanad Éireann for Senator Mark Daly. In 2013 he declared his candidacy for

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kilkenny, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ...

in the forthcoming elections and in May 2014 was elected in the local electoral area of Kilkenny City for Fianna Fáil. He was elected chairman of the Joint Policing Committee and leas-cathaoirleach of the council. In March 2015 McKee left Fianna Fáil amid rumors of homophobic bullying and joined the newly formed Renua party. His departure prompted criticism from a number of high-profile Fianna Fáil colleagues, including Michael McGrath and

Timmy Dooley Timmy Dooley (born 13 February 1969) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Seanad Éireann, Senator since June 2020, after being Nominated members of Seanad Éireann, nominated by the Taoiseach, and previously from 2002 to 2007 ...

. He later stated that before joining Renua, he had considered joining

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 Gri ...

. McKee was the Renua candidate for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at both the

2015 by-election Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album) ...

and the 2016 general election. He won only 0.2% of the first-preference votes on each occasion, and was not elected. In December 2016, McKee left Renua Ireland and became an independent. He returned to Fianna Fáil in 2017, which was met with criticism from some members of the party and prompted comment from Micheál Martin and a number of board members of the party to resign. In February 2018, he made about

Ruth Coppinger Ruth Coppinger (born 18 April 1967) is an Irish politician and member of the Socialist Party. She was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the Dublin West constituency in 2014. In the 2016 general election, she ran as a candidate for Anti-Aust ...

on Twitter for which later apologised. In November 2018, McKee announced that he would not be standing for re-election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckee, Patrick Alumni of University College Cork Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Fianna Fáil local councillors Gay politicians Irish LGBT politicians Irish gay men LGBT conservatism Living people Members of Kilkenny County Council Politicians from County Kilkenny 1988 births Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland 21st-century Irish LGBT people Renua Ireland candidates in Dáil elections Renua Ireland local councillors