Pádraig Ó Céidigh (; born 1 February 1957) is an Irish former

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politician and businessman who served 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 ...

from 2016 to 2020, after being

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 ...

. He is the former owner of

Aer Arann Islands Aer Arann Islands (stylised as aer arann islands) is an Irish airline headquartered in Inverin, County Galway. They operate a three-strong fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft to connect the Aran Islands with mainland County Galway. ...

He gained a B.Comm. from

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

in 1978. He worked as an accountant and then as a teacher at

Coláiste Iognáid Coláiste Iognáid SJ ( en, link=yes, Ignatius College), a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co- ...

, went on to study law and began practicing with his own firm in the city. He ran unsuccessfully for one of the three Seanad seats allocated to the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

, losing on transfers despite being third on first preferences, but was nominated to the

25th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 25th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. 49 Senators were elected in April 2016 when postal voting closed. The Taoiseach nominated an additional eleven members to the ...

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

on 11 May 2016. Ó Céidigh served as a member of the Governing Board of the Irish state broadcaster

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

prior to his appointment to the Seanad. In March 2018, he announced his intention to stand in the 2018 presidential election against incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

, as an Independent candidate, but subsequently did not stand in the election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OCeidigh, Padraig 1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Independent members of Seanad Éireann Irish accountants Irish businesspeople Irish schoolteachers Members of the 25th Seanad Nominated members of Seanad Éireann People from County Galway 20th-century Irish people