Jump to content

Billy Kelleher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billy Kelleher
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
Assumed office
2 July 2019
ConstituencySouth
Minister of State
2007–2011Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1997–July 2019
ConstituencyCork North-Central
Senator
In office
14 February 1993 – 25 May 1997
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born
William Kelleher

(1968-01-20)20 January 1968(age 56)
Cork,Ireland
Political party
Spouse
Liza Davis
​
(m.2002)​
Children3
Alma materPallaskenry Agricultural College

William Kelleher(born 20 January 1968) is an Irish politician who has been aMember of the European Parliament(MEP) fromIrelandfor theSouthconstituency since July 2019. He is a member ofFianna Fáil,part ofRenew Europe.He previously servedMinister of State for Trade and Commercefrom 2009 to 2011 andMinister of State for Labour Affairsfrom 2007 to 2009. He was aTeachta Dála(TD) for theCork North-Centralconstituency from 1997 to 2019. He was also aSenatorfrom 1993 to 1997, having beennominated by the Taoiseach.[1]

Biography[edit]

Kelleher was educated at Sacred Heart College,Carrignavar,County Corkand third level atPallaskenry Agricultural College,County Limerick.He is married to Liza Davis. They have two daughters and one son. He is a cousin of the lateFine GaelTDLiam Burke.[2]Prior to entering politics, he worked as a farmer.[3]

He was an unsuccessful candidate at the1992 general election,missing out by 25 votes,[3]but was nominated by the TaoiseachAlbert Reynoldsto the20th Seanadin 1993. Kelleher was first elected toDáil Éireannat the1997 general electionand retained his seat at the2002,2007,2011and2016general elections.[2]He wasMinister of Statewith special responsibility for Trade and Commerce from 2009 to 2011. He previously served as theMinister of State for Labour Affairsfrom 2007 to 2009. He was previously the assistantGovernmentChief Whip.Kelleher was the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Health. He had called for a rise in the legal age to purchase alcohol from off-licences.[4]He acted as Fianna Fáil's director of elections in 2016.[5]

In December 1992, lawyers for Kelleher claimed that the election count in Cork North-Central did not select, as required by regulations, votes from the top of each sub-parcel (each parcel having come in to a candidate from a different, earlier candidate). Instead, they argued, votes to be transferred were selected by taking all of the content of a relatively few sub-parcels.[6]In January 2006, Kelleher became embroiled in a minor controversy when he was caught speeding outsideCashel,County Tipperaryon his way toLeinster HouseinDublin.He was fined and received two penalty points on his driving licence. The misdemeanour was ironic, for it came in a week when the government was coming under fire over poor road safety statistics. He retained his seat at the2011 general election,though an opinion poll fromThe Irish Timeshad predicted that he was in danger of losing his seat.[7]

In 2019, he was elected to theEuropean Parliamentas an MEP for Ireland South.[8]Kelleher was a full member of the ANIT committee.[9]

In 2020, he asked party leader Micheál Martin to instigate an independent inquiry into the Fianna Fáil party's decline.[10]

In 2022, he was one of a number of Fianna Fáil politicians who signed a petition calling the government to expel the Russian ambassador following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11]Kelleher travelled with Fianna Fáil senatorTimmy Dooleyto Poland and Ukraine. During their time in Lviv, they met MayorAndriy Sadovyiand the governor of the Lviv region, Maxym Kozytsky.[12][13]When asked byRTÉhow many Ukrainian refugees Ireland should take in, Kelleher said that "Ireland will have to play its part in providing accommodation and lots of it."[14]In March 2022, Kelleher said thatSinn Féin'sdecision to remove thousands of media statements shows that its position on "major issues have always been wrong. Even they're embarrassed by them."[15]In April 2022, he asked Kerry Group (a company in which he owned shares) to cease operations in Russia.[16]Kerry Group decided to suspend their operations in Russia and Belarus, which was welcomed by Kelleher.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Billy Kelleher".Oireachtas Members Database.Archivedfrom the original on 7 November 2018.Retrieved27 April2009.
  2. ^ab"Billy Kelleher".ElectionsIreland.org.Archivedfrom the original on 20 May 2009.Retrieved27 April2009.
  3. ^ab"Profile: Billy Kelleher (FF)".The Irish Times.Retrieved22 May2024.
  4. ^"TD suggests rise in off-licence purchase age".RTÉ News.10 November 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2011.Retrieved10 November2011.
  5. ^McInerney, Sarah."Fianna Fail in the dark over Kenny 'attack ad'".The Times.ISSN0140-0460.Retrieved6 April2022.
  6. ^Gwynn Morgan, David (1 December 1992). "Taking lawyers to the election count".Irish Times.
  7. ^Collins, Stephen (14 February 2011)."FF Cork vote collapses – poll".The Irish Times.Archivedfrom the original on 27 October 2011.Retrieved12 July2011.
  8. ^Roche, Barry."Grace O'Sullivan pips Deirdre Clune to fourth Ireland South seat".The Irish Times.Retrieved6 April2022.
  9. ^"Major EU blocks take 'sensible' position ahead of transport vote - Kelleher".farmersjournal.ie.Retrieved6 April2022.
  10. ^McGee, Harry."Fianna Fáil MEP asks Taoiseach for independent inquiry into party's decline".The Irish Times.Retrieved6 April2022.
  11. ^Gleeson, Colin."Pressure grows for expulsion of Russian ambassador".The Irish Times.Retrieved6 April2022.
  12. ^Lord, Miriam."Miriam Lord: Uncharted territory for 21st-century Europe".The Irish Times.Retrieved6 April2022.
  13. ^"Ukraine trip 'opened my eyes', says Kelleher".echo live.9 March 2022.Retrieved6 April2022.
  14. ^Cunningham, Paul (6 March 2022)."Fianna Fáil politicians hold talks in city of Lviv".RTÉ.ie.
  15. ^"Sinn Féin deletes thousands of statements from its website due to 'outdated content'".independent.Retrieved6 April2022.
  16. ^Loughlin, Elaine (3 April 2022)."Fianna Fáil MEP urges Irish firms to pull their operations out of Russia".Irish Examiner.Retrieved6 April2022.
  17. ^O'Connor, Niall (6 April 2022)."MEP Clare Daly criticises EU sanctions on Russia in European Parliament speech".TheJournal.ie.Retrieved6 April2022.

External links[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of State for Labour Affairs
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Trade and Commerce
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Kelleher&oldid=1228849284"