Jerry Buttimer (born 18 March 1967) 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 É ...

politician who has served as

Cathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish for chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach, who has held the o ...

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 ...

since December 2022. He has served 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 ...

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 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2011. He served as

Leas-Chathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish for chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach, who has held the offi ...

from July 2020 to August 2020,

Leader of the Seanad The Leader of the Seanad (referred to within the Seanad as Leader of the House ga, Treoraí an Tí) is a member of Seanad Éireann appointed by the Taoiseach to direct government business. Since December 2022, the incumbent is Lisa Chambers of ...

from 2016 to 2020 and Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad from 2016 to 2020. He 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 Parl ...

(TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency from 2011 to 2016.

Early life and education

After early education in

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 ...

, Buttimer studied for the priesthood for six years at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

as a candidate for the

Diocese of Cork and Ross The Diocese of Cork and Ross ( ga, Deoise Chorcaí agus Rosa) is a Roman Catholic diocese in southern Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is Cathedral ...

. He was ordained in 1991 and is a classmate of Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe. After a short period in parish ministry he left for further study and worked as a teacher in a secondary school and more latterly was Director of Adult Education at

Ballincollig Ballincollig () is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork city in Ireland. It is located on the western side of Cork city, beside the River Lee on the R608 regional road. In 2016 it was the largest town in County Cork, at wh ...

Community School.

Political life

He was first elected to

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, t ...

in 2004 and was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2007 general election for the Cork South-Central constituency, but was subsequently elected to the Seanad. He was Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in the

23rd Seanad This is a list of the members of the 23rd Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected from 24 July 2007 onwards after postal voting closed. The Taoiseach's nominees were announced on ...

. He was critical of the 2012 boundary commission report, which transferred the areas of

Bishopstown Bishopstown () is located in the civil parish of St. Finbar's, Barony of Cork, County Cork, Ireland. It is a southwestern suburb of Cork and is made-up of the townlands of Ballineaspigbeg and Ballineaspigmore (sometimes spelled Ballinaspigmore). ...

and Glasheen from the Cork South–Central constituency to Cork North-Central. Both areas were considered his political base in the constituency. Despite predictions that he would move to Cork North-Central at the next election, he announced in August 2012 that he would contest the next election in Cork South-Central. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. After his election as a member of

in April 2016, he was appointed by the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of 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 legislature) and the of ...

and Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Cork South-Central at the 2020 general election. He was re-elected to the Seanad in 2020. He was appointed

of Seanad Éireann on 7 July 2020.

Golfgate

Following his involvement in the

Oireachtas Golf Society scandal The Oireachtas Golf Society scandal, also known informally as "Golfgate", was a political scandal in Ireland involving past and present members of that country's parliament, the Oireachtas, who attended a gathering of the Oireachtas Golf Society ...

("golfgate"), Buttimer resigned as Leas-Cathaoirleach on 21 August 2020. Buttimer and 80 others attended a golf function and dinner the previous day. At the time it was suggested it was in breach of government

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

guidelines. Buttimer's role in the matter was heavily criticised, as previously Buttimer has been highly critical of those he perceived as not keeping to government guidelines. In April 2020 he had accused broadcaster Ivan Yates of "irresponsible behaviour", telling him that public health measures were "about saving lives... not socialising". In June, he had suggested

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (; born 8 February 1989) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency since the 2016 general election. Ó Laoghaire is from Togher, Cork. He attended Unive ...

was "happy to abandon public health advice". Buttimer also lost the

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...

as part of his sanction. The party unanimously voted to restore the whip to Buttimer in January 2021.

Cathaoirleach

He was elected as

on 16 December 2022.

Personal life

In April 2012, Buttimer came out as gay, the first Fine Gael TD to do so, saying: "I am a TD who just happens to be gay – it is just one little composition of the story that is me and I will continue to be the politician I was yesterday." He married Conchobar Ó Laoghaire in December 2017. He was the first chair of Fine Gael LGBT.

References

External links

*
Jerry Buttimer's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttimer, Jerry 1967 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Fine Gael TDs Fine Gael senators Gay politicians Irish schoolteachers LGBT conservatism LGBT legislators in Ireland Local councillors in Cork (city) Members of the 23rd Seanad Members of the 25th Seanad Members of the 26th Seanad Members of the 31st Dáil