Robert O'Donoghue (born 1980/1981) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a

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, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Dublin Fingal West constituency since 2024.

Early life

O'Donoghue is originally from

Coolock Coolock () is a large suburban area, centred on a village, on Dublin city's Northside in Ireland. Coolock is crossed by the Santry River, a prominent feature in the middle of the district, with a linear park and ponds. The Coolock suburban a ...

. He attended St Joseph's Secondary School in Rush and worked there as a substitute teacher after graduating. He later studied psychology, attained a master's degree in European politics from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and a higher diploma in data analytics from the

National College of Ireland National College of Ireland (NCI) (''Coláiste Náisiúnta na hÉireann'' (''CNÉ'') in Irish) is a not-for-profit, state-aided third-level education institution in Dublin. It was founded in 1951 as a joint venture between the Jesuits in Ir ...

Political career

O'Donoghue first got involved in politics during the 2007 referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, joining the Labour Party in that year. In 2013 he was elected as the chair of the Rush branch of the party. O'Donoghue was co-opted onto

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...

in 2018, replacing the retiring Ken Farrell. Representing the Rush-Lusk area, he topped local elections polls twice, once in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and again in June 2024, with his vote share increasing from 18.6% to 25.9%. At the 2024 general election, O'Donoghue was elected to the Dáil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonoghue, Robert Living people 1980s births Alumni of the National College of Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 34th Dáil Members of Fingal County Council People from Coolock Labour Party (Ireland) local councillors