Seán Canney is an Irish

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 who has been 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 Galway East constituency since 2016. He has served as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

since January 2025, and previously from 2016 to 2017 and again from 2018 to 2020. A native of Belclare,

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. Canney was campaign manager for his brother-in-law, Paddy McHugh, in the 2002 general election, in which McHugh gained a seat in the Galway East constituency. As an

candidate, Canney was elected to

Galway County Council Galway County Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, on his first attempt. He was re-elected in each of the subsequent local elections in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In both the 2009 and 2014 elections, he topped the poll in the Tuam local electoral area. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2011 general election in the Galway East constituency, receiving 5,567 first preference votes. He served as Mayor of

for the term 2007 to 2008, and served on a number of boards and committees. He joined the Independent Alliance in advance of the 2016 general election. At the 2016 general election, he topped the poll in Galway East, securing 8,447 first preference votes. After lengthy government formation talks, the Independent Alliance supported the nomination of

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 ...

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 ...

on 6 May 2016, allowing Kenny to become the first

leader of Fine Gael The Leader of Fine Gael is the most senior politician within the Fine Gael political party in Ireland. The party leader is Simon Harris, who took up the role on 24 March 2024 after the resignation of Leo Varadkar. The deputy leader of Fine Gael ...

to be re-appointed to this office. He was appointed a member of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness, a position he held until his appointment on 19 May 2016 by the new government as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) (; legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Government of Ireland, Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of owned and ren ...

and Flood Relief. He served in that position until 3 June 2017, when he was succeeded by

Kevin "Boxer" Moran Kevin Moran (born 12 May 1963) is an Irish independent politician who has served as a Minister of State since January 2025, having previously served from 2017 to 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency s ...

, part of an arrangement within the Independent Alliance. He has advocated the reopening the

Western Rail Corridor The Western Railway Corridor is a term, used since , for a partly disused railway line running through the west of Ireland. Currently two sections of the line, from Limerick via Ennis to Athenry and from Collooney to Sligo, see regular services ...

to trains from

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Claremorris Claremorris (; ) is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. As of the 2017, it was the fastest growing town in the county, having seen a 31% increase in population between 2006 and ...

and Tuam railway station. He left the Independent Alliance in May 2018, but continued to support the government. In a reshuffle after the resignation of

Denis Naughten Denis Naughten (born 23 June 1973) is an Irish former independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Roscommon–Galway constituency from 2016 to 2024, and previously from 2007 to 2016 for the Roscommon–South Leitrim const ...

from cabinet, Canney returned to the ministerial ranks on 16 October 2018. On 13 October 2018, he was appointed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

on nomination by

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

Department of Rural and Community Development The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. Departmental team The headquarters and minis ...

and at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment with special responsibility for natural resources, community affairs and digital development. Canney was re-elected at the February 2020 general election. He stayed in ministerial office until the formation of a new government on 27 June 2020. He sat in the Regional Group in the

33rd Dáil The 33rd Dáil was elected at the 2020 general election on 8 February 2020 and first met on 20 February 2020. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat wit ...

. He was re-elected to the Dáil at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

and was a member of the Regional Independent Group. On 23 January 2025, he was appointed as a Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for International and road transport, logistics, rail and ports. He is also a super junior minister, one of four

Ministers of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers ...

in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canney, Sean Living people Independent TDs Members of Galway County Council Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil People from Tuam Politicians from County Galway Alumni of the Institute of Technology, Sligo Members of the 33rd Dáil Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 34th Dáil Ministers of State of the 34th Dáil Year of birth missing (living people)