Séamus Healy
Séamus Healy | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Healy in 2024 | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office November 2024 | |
| In office February 2011 – February 2016 | |
| In office June 2000 – May 2007 | |
| Constituency | Tipperary South |
| In office February 2016 – February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Tipperary |
| South Tipperary County Councillor | |
| In office June 1991 – May 2014 | |
| Constituency | Clonmel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 August 1950 Waterford, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Workers and Unemployed Action |
Séamus Healy (born 9 August 1950) is an Irish independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary South constituency intermittently since a 2000 by-election[1] Healy was most recently elected in the 2024 general election on the sixth count with 9,601 votes.[2]
He is part of the Clonmel-based Workers and Unemployed Action (WUA) which had a number of local representatives on South Tipperary County Council and Clonmel Borough Council. He is a former member of the League for a Workers Republic.[3]
Career
[edit]Having worked as Hospital Administrator for South Tipperary Acute Hospital Services from 1978 to 1999, Healy was first elected to Clonmel Borough Council in 1985.[3][4] He was elected to the 28th Dáil at a by-election on 22 June 2000. He was re-elected at the 2002 general election, but lost his seat at the 2007 general election to Martin Mansergh of Fianna Fáil.[5][6] After losing his Dáil seat, he returned to serve as a South Tipperary County Councillor for the Clonmel local electoral area, being co-opted for Pat English, after which he was appointed to various committees such as the local Vocational Education Committee, promotion of the Irish language and various water supply committees.
Healy was re-elected to South Tipperary County Council at the 2009 local elections.[5]
He won back his seat at the 2011 general election with 21.3 per cent of the first preference vote and served on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children.[7][8][9]
On 15 December 2011, he helped launch a nationwide campaign against the household charge being brought in as part of the 2012 Irish budget.[10]
He stood for re-election to the new Tipperary constituency as an Independent in the 2016 general election, and was elected on the seventh count.[11] He voted for both Gerry Adams and Richard Boyd Barrett for Taoiseach when the 32nd Dáil first met.[12]
Healy's brother Paddy Healy served as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland and ran unsuccessfully in the Seanad elections in 2007 and 2011 for the NUI panel, and in the 1980s ran in the Dublin North-East constituency as an Anti H-Block candidate.[13] He worked as a voluntary researcher for Seamus.
He lost his seat at the 2020 general election. Following his defeat, Healy said: “I’ve been here before. I’ve been an activist all my life. I lost in 2007 by 59 votes. I will continue to be an activist. Life is like that: you win some, you lost some. You pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and keep going.” [14]
In September 2023, Healy confirmed that he would be running in the 2024 general election for Tipperary South, following boundary changes that split Tipperary back into two constituencies. He stated that the unification of south and north Tipperary into a single Dáil constituency and local authority had been disastrous for south Tipperary, which he believed was playing "second fiddle" to north Tipperary.[15]
At the 2024 general election, Healy was elected to the Dáil with 9,601 votes.[16] Aged 74, Healy was one of the oldest candidates in the general election, and is one of the oldest TDs elected to the Dáil.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Séamus Healy". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
- ^ Ryan, Seán (1 December 2024). "BREAKING: Seamus Healy makes miraculous return to the Dáil for Tipperary". www.ireland-live.ie. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b International Trotskyism, 1929–1985: a documented analysis of the movement By Robert Jackson Alexander, p. 576.
- ^ "About: Séamus Healy". Workers & Unemployed Action. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Séamus Healy". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
- ^ "I'll be back - Healy". Tipperary Star. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
- ^ Minihan, Mary (28 February 2011). "Higgins pledges to build new party of left as five elected under ULA banner". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ "Tipperary South Result 2011 General Election". RTÉ News. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ "About: Séamus Healy". Workers & Unemployed Action. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "TDs would go to jail over household charge". RTÉ News. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ Delehanty, Mary (2 March 2016). "Dáil General Election 2016 - Constituency of Tipperary Results Sheet" (PDF). Tipperary Returning Officer. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Nomination of Taoiseach: 10 Mar 2016". Dáil debates. KildareStreet.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ^ Paddy Healy www.electionsireland.org
- ^ "Disappointed Seamus Healy says he'll fight on". Tipperary Live. 9 February 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ "Former Tipperary TD Seamus Healy confirms he will contest next general election". Tipperary Live. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ Ryan, Seán (1 December 2024). "BREAKING: Seamus Healy makes miraculous return to the Dáil for Tipperary". www.tipperarylive.ie. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "Tipperary South: story of the count". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 December 2024.