Pádraig Ó Céidigh (; born 2 January 1957) is an Irish former

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

politician and businessman who 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 ...

from 2016 to 2020, after being

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

. He is the former owner of Aer Arann and

Aer Arann Islands Aer Arann Islands (stylised as aer arann islands) is an Ireland, Irish airline headquartered in Inverin, County Galway. They operate a fleet of three Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft, connecting the Aran Islands with mainland County Galway. ...

. He gained a B.Comm. from

University College Galway The University of Galway () is a public university, public research university located in the city of Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Ga ...

in 1978. He worked as an accountant and then as a teacher at

Coláiste Iognáid Coláiste Iognáid SJ (), a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co-educational, non-fee-paying sec ...

, went on to study law and began practicing with his own firm in the city. Ó Céidigh purchased Aer Arann in 1994 with Eugene O'Kelly and grew it into a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

. Aer Arann was purchased by Stobart Group in the 2010s, becoming Stobart Air, and Ó Céidigh sold the standalone

in 2020. He ran unsuccessfully for one of the three Seanad seats allocated to the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

, losing on transfers despite being third on first preferences, but was nominated to 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 ...

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

on 11 May 2016. Ó Céidigh served as a member of the Governing Board of the Irish state broadcaster

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

prior to his appointment to the Seanad. In March 2018, he announced his intention to stand in the 2018 presidential election against incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

, as an independent candidate, but subsequently did not stand in the election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OCeidigh, Padraig 1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Independent members of Seanad Éireann Irish accountants 20th-century Irish businesspeople Irish schoolteachers Members of the 25th Seanad Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Politicians from County Galway Businesspeople from County Galway 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish businesspeople