Seán Maloney (born 9 January 1945) is a former Irish politician from

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

. Formerly a member of the Labour Party, he joined

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 � ...

in 2000. Maloney unsuccessfully contested the 1992 general election as a Labour Party candidate in the Donegal North-East constituency, but in the subsequent elections to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

he was elected in the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

to the 20th Seanad. He stood unsuccessfully in the Donegal North-East by-election in April 1996, and he was not elected at the 1997 general election, when his share of the first-preference votes fell from over 11% in 1992 to only 5.5%. He was defeated in subsequent Seanad elections, but in the local elections in 1991 he was elected a member of both

Letterkenny Town Council Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a Counties of Ireland, county in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, pro ...

and of

Donegal County Council Donegal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún na nGall) is the authority responsible for local government in County Donegal, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hou ...

. Sometime after 1999 he left the Labour Party and joined

, standing as a Fine Gael candidate for Donegal North-East in the 2002 general election, when he won over 10% of the first-preference votes but was not elected. He did not contest any further elections. In 1995, he advised the then Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht

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 ...

to view a site in Letterkenny in exchange for a lift to a Labour Party function in Donegal. Higgins visited the Rectory Field, declared it the best site for a theatre he had ever seen and approved a £1.5 million grant the following February for what would become

An Grianán Theatre An Grianán Theatre ( ga, Amharclann an Ghrianáin) is the largest theatre in County Donegal. Located in Letterkenny's Port Road district, its current director is Patricia McBride. With a seating capacity of 383, the theatre provides a range of p ...

. He is a brother of

Eamonn Maloney Eamonn Maloney (born 1953) is an Irish former independent politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency at the 2011 general election. He was a member of South Dublin ...

who served as Mayor of

South Dublin , image_map = Island of Ireland location map South Dublin.svg , map_caption = Inset showing South Dublin (darkest green in inset) within Dublin Region (lighter green) , area_total_km2 ...

(2006–2007) and in

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 read ...

(2011–2016).

References

1945 births Living people Fine Gael politicians Labour Party (Ireland) senators Local councillors in County Donegal Members of the 20th Seanad People from Letterkenny {{Ireland-senator-stub