Timothy Conway (born 27 October 1942) is an Irish former politician from

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. An accountant and long-serving local councillor, he served for six years as a

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 ...

in the 1980s and later contested two general elections. In the course of his political career he switched party twice, moving from the Labour Party to the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Mal ...

and then to

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 � ...

Political career

Conway joined the Labour Party as a trainee accountant in the 1970s, and was later elected as a member of

Kildare County Council Kildare County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chill Dara) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kildare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housin ...

. He was Labour's director of elections in the

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

constituency at the 1981 general election, after which he was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

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 Éireann. The appointment was explained by the Labour Party's secretary, Seamus Scally, as an organisational one: Conway would be responsible for organising and improving the finances of the party in the

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

area. The following year he was elected to the

16th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 16th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1982, after the February 1982 general election and served until the close of poll ...

, topping the poll on the

Industrial and Commercial Panel The Industrial and Commercial Panel ( ga, An Rolla Tionscail Agus Tráchtála) 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 Ind ...

. He was re-elected in 1983 to 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 ...

, this time coming second in the first-preference votes behind

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 Christian- ...

's Eoin Ryan. He left the Labour Party in 1986 to become a founder member of the new

party (PDs). He did not contest the 1987 elections to the

18th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 18th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1987, after the 1987 general election and served until the close of poll for the ...

because the Progressive Democrats policy at the time called for the abolition of the Seanad. At the 1989 general election he stood unsuccessfully as a Progressive Democrats candidate in the Kildare constituency, and he was unsuccessful again when he stood in the new Kildare North constituency in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. Conway remained a member of Kildare County Council and of Naas Town Council, where he initiated the town's twinning with the American city of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. He was one of three of the town's nine councillors whose council-funded trip to Omaha was described by another councillor as a "gravy train". He was twice chairman of the county council, and served as Mayor of Naas from 2002 to 2003. However, in June 2003 he left the Progressive Democrats to join

, and in the 2004 local elections he lost his seats on both the Town Council and the County Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Timmy 1942 births Living people Labour Party (Ireland) senators Progressive Democrats candidates in Dáil elections Fine Gael local councillors Members of Kildare County Council Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 15th Seanad Members of the 16th Seanad Members of the 17th Seanad People from Naas Politicians from County Kildare Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Progressive Democrats local councillors Industrial and Commercial Panel senators