Shane Cassells (born 6 April 1978) is an Irish

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 Christia ...

politician who has served as a Senator for 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. ...

since April 2020. He previously served as 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) for the Meath West constituency from 2016 to 2020. Before being elected as a TD, Cassells worked for the ''Fingal Independent'' as a sports journalist, and with publishing house Devlin Media. He is a nephew of footballer Joe Cassells and of Peter Cassells, former head of the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...

. Cassells was first elected to Navan City Council in 1999, and was a member of

Meath County Council Meath County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae na Mí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

from 2004 to 2016, serving as Mayor of

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nb ...

twice. He contested the 2005 Meath by-election for Fianna Fáil but was not elected. He contested the

2011 Irish general election The 2011 Irish general election took place on Friday 25 February to elect 166 Teachtaí Dála across 43 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Ireland's parliament, the Oireachtas. The Dáil was dissolved and the general electi ...

in the Meath West constituency, but again was not elected. He was elected on his third attempt at the 2016 general election, and his seat was considered to be safe, but he lost his seat at the 2020 general election, as his share of first preferences fell from 27.4% to 16.2%. In April 2020, he was elected 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 ...

as a Senator for the

. Cassells is married to Fiona Healy, and they have three children.

References

External links

Shane Cassells' page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassells, Shane Living people People from Navan Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 26th Seanad Fianna Fáil TDs Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Members of Meath County Council 1971 births Fianna Fáil senators Labour Panel senators