James Harte (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish former Labour Party politician and was a member of

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 ...

from April 2011 to September 2015. Formerly an elected representative of

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 � ...

, he left after failing to win the party's nomination for the 2007 general election, and ran unsuccessfully as an independent instead. He joined the Labour Party in 2010, running unsuccessfully for that party at the 2011 general election but was subsequently elected to the Seanad.

Background

Harte was educated at

St Eunan's College St Eunan's College ( ; ga, Coláiste Adhamhnáin), known locally as The College to distinguish it from the cathedral and GAA club, is a voluntary Roman Catholic all-male secondary day school (and former boarding school) in County Donegal, Ire ...

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

, and obtained a B.A. in Psychology from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

. He set up his own insurance broker business, Harte Insurances, at the age of 24. The son of former

Paddy Harte Patrick Harte (26 July 1931 – 8 January 2018) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served for 36 years as Teachta Dála (TD) for Donegal North-East. Early life and family He was born in 1931 in Lifford, County Donegal. His son, Jimmy Hart ...

, he was elected as a Fine Gael candidate to

Letterkenny Town Council Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a Counties of Ireland, county in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, pro ...

in 1994 and subsequently to

Donegal County Council Donegal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Dhún na nGall) is the authority responsible for local government in County Donegal, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hou ...

in 1999. In 2006 he resigned from Fine Gael after failing to secure a nomination from the party to contest the Donegal North-East constituency for the 2007 general election. He subsequently stood as an independent candidate at that election but was not elected.

National politics

Harte joined the Labour Party in 2010 and was that party's candidate for the 2011 general election for Donegal North-East, where he was unsuccessful in winning a seat. Harte was subsequently elected to

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 In ...

in April 2011. He became the Labour Party Seanad spokesperson on Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation. In February 2012, he offered to pay for the flight of a Polish worker living in Donegal to return "home" to stop her receiving unemployment benefit and FAS training. It later transpired the article was mistranslated from Polish. After it became apparent the article Harte was talking about was mistranslated many people took to Twitter to question him about his opinion. In response Harte began to insult various users. He also accused some users of being xenophobic against Donegal while at the same time accusing other users of being "D4 types" in a derogatory manner. He later removed his comments, though accepted full responsibility for them.

Health

In the early hours of 16 November 2013, Harte was found unconscious at Newmarket Square, Dublin with severe head injuries, having suffered a fall. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital and put in an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

, and underwent surgery for a fractured skull and

brain trauma A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic br ...

. He had attended the Ireland–Latvia soccer friendly at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

some hours earlier. In late November 2013, he moved his hand. In January 2014, Harte was transferred back to Beaumont Hospital in a critical condition. Harte resigned from the Seanad on 23 September 2015, and underwent rehabilitative care for 2 years. As of May 2020, he is in Larissa Lodge Nursing Home.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harte, Jimmy 1958 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin People with disorders of consciousness Fine Gael politicians Independent politicians in Ireland Labour Party (Ireland) senators Members of Donegal County Council Members of the 24th Seanad People educated at St Eunan's College People from Lifford People with traumatic brain injuries Politicians from County Donegal Industrial and Commercial Panel senators