Terence Flanagan (born 1 January 1975) is an Irish

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 who has served as a

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...

lor since May 2019. 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

Dublin North-East Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

constituency from 2007 to 2016. He was a member of

from 2003 until 2007, originally co-opted onto the council to replace

Richard Bruton Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North since 2016, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He is the Chairman of th ...

, due to the ending of

dual mandate A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

s in September 2003, he was elected to the Council in 2004 obtaining 2594

first preference votes In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

. Upon Flanagan's election to the Dáil in 2007 for the now defunct Dublin North East Constituency, his brother Declan Flanagan P.C was co-opted onto the City Council as his replacement. In February 2008, Flanagan made a speech which was notably similar to a previous one by Labour Party TD

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2 ...

. He initially denied that the speech was copied, but later issued a statement admitting and apologising for the

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

. He was Fine Gael deputy spokesperson on the Environment, with special responsibility for Housing, from October 2007 to March 2011. Flanagan was re-elected to the Dáil in February 2011 with 12,332 first preference votes. Flanagan was expelled from the Fine Gael parliamentary party on 2 July 2013, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013. On 13 September 2013, he and six other expellees formed the Reform Alliance, described as a "loose alliance" rather than a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. On 13 March 2015,

Renua Ireland Renua Ireland, commonly called Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton as founding leader. Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ireland. Th ...

was launched, with Flanagan as one of its three sitting TDs and many other Reform Alliance members as declared election candidates. Later that day Flanagan represented the party in an interview on

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 ...

's ''Drivetime'' radio news programme, where he was unable to answer any questions about the party's policies. Flanagan stood as a Renua Ireland candidate for the new Dublin Bay North constituency at the 2016 general election, but lost his seat, being eliminated at the 9th count. In April 2017, it was announced that he would rejoin Fine Gael. In November 2018, he was selected by local Fine Gael branches to be a candidate in the

Donaghmede Donaghmede () is a residential suburb on the northern side of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed from parts of Baldoyle, Coolock and Raheny in the 1970s. It contains a mid-size shopping centre and a ruined chapel, and lies within t ...

Local Electoral Area of

to contest the 2019 Local Elections. In April 2019, he was warned by Dublin City Council litter wardens for breach of regulations after putting up election posters in advance of the permitted day. He claimed he was at a disadvantage for having done so. He was also forced to apologise after his poster erections at 3am alarmed an elderly woman. Flanagan was elected to Dublin City Council in the 2019 local elections, in the Donaghmede LEA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Terence 1975 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Independent TDs Local councillors in Dublin (city) Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Renua Ireland TDs Alumni of Dublin Business School People educated at Chanel College, Dublin