Thomas Gould (born July 1968) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

politician who has been 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 Cork North-Central constituency since the 2020 general election.

Political career

He was a member of

Cork City Council Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, ...

, originally for the Cork City North Central Ward in 2009 and for the Cork City North West local electoral area from 2019. Gould was a candidate in the 2016 General Election in Cork North-Central, but was not elected. He was a candidate in the

2019 Cork North-Central by-election A by-election was held in the Cork North-Central constituency of Dáil Éireann on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill the vacancy left by the election to the European Parliament of outgoing TD Billy Kelleher of Fianna Fáil. The election was ...

, but was not elected. Gould was elected at the 2020 general election in Cork North Central. He received almost 27% of the first preference votes cast in the constituency. He was selected after

Jonathan O'Brien Jonathan O'Brien (born 28 December 1971) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency from 2011 to 2020. Early life O'Brien moved to Morecambe, Lancashire in the early 1 ...

had announced that he would not seek re-election. Mick Nugent was co-opted to Gould's seat on Cork City Council following his election to Dáil Eireann. In 2018, Gould claimed that the spending by Cork City Council for

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and Camilla was "overkill". In 2021, he defended former Sinn Féin politician Martin Ferris in saying that members of the Provisional IRA “were not criminals.” Gould stated that the Provisional IRA was made up of volunteers “who stepped up in their community” at a time when they were “under attack”.

Early and personal life

Gould is from the

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

suburb of

Knocknaheeny Knocknaheeny () is an electoral division and suburb in Cork city, located north of the River Lee on hills overlooking the city. It is a mainly residential area, and contains a number of terraced council housing estates. Apple's headquarters for ...

, and lives in

Gurranabraher Gurranabraher () is a residential suburb on the north western side of Cork City. Its bounds range from the North Cathedral to Bakers Road to Blarney Street. Gurranabraher is located in Cork North-Central Dáil Éireann constituency. Amenities ...

with his wife and two daughters. He was a logistics manager. He is involved with St. Vincent's GAA. In addition to this, he was serving on the board of directors of the

Firkin Crane The Firkin Crane is a non-profit arts organisation based in the protected building of the same name in the Shandon area of Cork City in Ireland. It is a theatre and dance centre and is a permanent base for Cork City Ballet and Crux Dance Theatr ...

as of 2020.

References

External links

Thomas Gould's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Thomas Living people 1968 births Local councillors in Cork (city) Members of the 33rd Dáil Politicians from County Cork Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Alumni of Cork Institute of Technology