Joe O'Reilly (born 1 April 1955) is an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...

politician has served as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

since April 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

and from 1989 to 1992 for the

Cultural and Educational Panel Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these gr ...

. 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 is Fianna Fáil Senat ...

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

from August 2020 to December 2022. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 2011 to 2016.

Early and personal life

Born in

Cootehill Cootehill (; ) is a market town and townland in County Cavan, Ireland. Cootehill was formerly part of the neighbouring townland of Munnilly. Both townlands lie within the barony of Tullygarvey. Cootehill is 20 km north-east of Cavan tow ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

, he was educated at

St Patrick's College, Cavan Saint Patrick's College () is a Roman Catholic all-male secondary school in County Cavan, Ireland. It was founded in 1871 as a minor and major seminary for the Diocese of Kilmore. It was officially opened by the Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Nicholas ...

; St. Aidan's Comprehensive School,

;

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

;

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

;

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College (), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drum ...

and the

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

. O'Reilly is a primary school teacher by profession.

Political career

In local politics, he was first elected to

Cavan County Council Cavan County Council () is the authority responsible for local government in County Cavan, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transporta ...

in 1985 but lost his seat in 1991. He was re-elected at the 1999 local elections for the

Bailieborough Bailieborough or Bailieboro (; ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Cavan, Ireland. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the population was 2,974, up from 1,529 as of the 1996 census. Bailieborough's prox ...

local electoral area and again in 2004. He was a candidate at the 2007 general election for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency. As a result of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

Minister

Rory O'Hanlon Rory O'Hanlon (born 7 February 1934) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2007, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1997 to 2002, Minister for the Environment from 19 ...

serving as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2007, he was guaranteed reelection and therefore the seats were reduced from 5 to 4 in the constituency. He finished with a total of 9550 first preference votes, the highest losing vote in the country in that election. He won a seat in the general election in February 2011. He lost this Dáil seat at the 2016 general election. In European elections, he was an unsuccessful candidate at the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

, for the North-West constituency. As a Senator, he was first elected in 1989 to the

19th Seanad The 19th Seanad was in office from 1989 to 1993. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1989 general election to the 26th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 20th Sea ...

, on the

. He lost his seat at the 1993 Seanad elections and was unsuccessful again at the 1997 Seanad election. He was elected to the

23rd Seanad The 23rd Seanad was in office from 2007 to 2011. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) took place in July 2007, following the 2007 general election to the 30th Dáil on 24 May. There are 60 seats in th ...

in 2007, serving on the

and as Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. O'Reilly was elected to the

of the

25th Seanad The 25th Seanad was in office from 2016 to 2020. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2016 general election to the 32nd Dáil on 26 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were el ...

in April 2016. He is the Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Political views

In 2017, Fine Gael announced that they were planning a bill to allow pubs to open on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, reversing a 90-year-old ban. O'Reilly went against his party's view and said that the tradition was "part of our national identity".

References

External links

*
Joe O'Reilly's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Joe 1955 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Fine Gael TDs Irish schoolteachers Members of Cavan County Council Members of the 19th Seanad Members of the 23rd Seanad Members of the 25th Seanad Members of the 26th Seanad Members of the 27th Seanad Members of the 31st Dáil Fine Gael senators People educated at St Patrick's College, Cavan People from Cootehill Cultural and Educational Panel senators Industrial and Commercial Panel senators Labour Panel senators