Seán A. O'Leary (7 June 1941 – 22 December 2006) was an Irish

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, judge and

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 � ...

politician and

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 ...

. O'Leary served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1972 to 1973. He was an unsuccessful Fine Gael candidate for

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 ...

at the 1965, 1969, 1973 and 1977 general elections for various Cork constituencies. In 1981, he was nominated by 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 ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

as a member of the

15th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 15th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1981, after the 1981 general election and served until the close of poll for ...

. He was a political activist one of the group known as the 'National Handlers'. Prior to qualifying as a barrister he was an accountant. He was nominated again in 1983, and served in the

17th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 17th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1983, after the November 1982 general election and served until the close of pol ...

from 1983–1987. He did not seek re-election in 1987. He was later appointed a Circuit Court Judge and later again promoted to the High Court. He chaired enquiries into the proposed Luas light rail system for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1997 and 1999 which were praised for their promptness. While a High Court judge he served as Chairman of the Residential Institutions Redress Board. He died in Cork on 22 December 2006. His grandfather

John Horgan John Joseph Horgan (born August 7, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 36th premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022, and also as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022. Horgan has been the ...

was a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) and also a Lord Mayor of Cork from 1941 to 1942.Cadogan, Tim & Falvey, Jeremiah: ''A Biographical Dictionary of Cork'' p.138, Four Courts Press (2006),

References

1941 births 2006 deaths Fine Gael senators Members of the 15th Seanad Members of the 17th Seanad Local councillors in Cork (city) Lord Mayors of Cork Irish barristers High Court judges (Ireland) Nominated members of Seanad Éireann {{Ireland-senator-stub