Paschal Mooney

Paschal Mooney
Senator
In office January 2010 – April 2016
Constituency	Agricultural Panel
In office April 1987 – July 2007
Constituency	Cultural and Educational Panel
Personal details
Born	(1947-10-14)14 October 1947 Dublin,Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse	Sheila Baldrey
Children	5
Parent	Joe Mooney(father)

Paschal Canice Mooney(born 14 October 1947) is anIrishFianna Fáilpolitician and a former member ofSeanad Éireann.

A journalist and broadcaster, he was first elected to the Seanad in 1987, on theCultural and Educational Panel.He retained his seat at each subsequent election until losing it at the 2007 election to the23rd Seanad.He was re-elected to Seanad Éireann on theAgricultural Panelin a Seanad by-election on 19 January 2010.,re-elected in 2011, but lost his seat in the April 2016 election.

Early and personal life

Born inDublin,he grew up inDrumshanbo,County Leitrim.His father,Joe,was a member of the Seanad (1961–1965) andLeitrim County Council(1943–1988) while his mother Eva Mooney also served as a member of Leitrim County Council (1988–1991). He is the third generation of his family to contribute to public service locally and nationally as his grandfather, Andrew Mooney, served as a member of Leitrim County Council from 1920 to 1943.

Mooney has also enjoyed a broadcasting career withRTÉ,Ireland's national broadcaster. A presenter of a variety of Irish traditional and country music and Sports programmes, he devised, scripted and presented numerous music documentaries on Irish and American country music stars. He was in the forefront of the 'Shot at Dawn' campaign led in theBritish House of CommonsbyAndrew MacKinlayMP and in theHouse of LordsbyAlf Dubsseeking a pardon for over 300 soldiers ofWorld War I(including 26 Irish servicemen) shot in questionable circumstances following Fieldcourts-martial.

Mooney married Sheila Baldrey;the couple has five children.

Political career

He was first elected to the Seanad in 1987, on theCultural and Educational Panelas a nominee of the Library Association of Ireland (LAI).He retained his seat at each subsequent election until losing it in the 2007 election. He was a member of Leitrim County Council from 1991 to 1999. He later served as a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union 1998 to 2002, and subsequently was a member of the Irish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 2002–08. He was appointed a member of theBritish–Irish Parliamentary Assembly(BIPA) in 1997 and served until 2007. Mooney returned to the BIPA in 2011 and also sits on the North/South Parliamentary Body which meets twice yearly in Belfast and Dublin and is the representative of the Stormont Assembly and Oireachtas. In April 2008, Mooney was nominated to the position of Chairman ofFáilte IrelandNorth West, one of five Regional Tourism Boards in Ireland charged with promoting their regions and attracting tourists.

Mooney was selected as running mate toSeán Ó Neachtainas a Fianna Fáil candidate at the2009 European Parliament electionfor theNorth-West constituency.Following the announcement by O'Neachtain that he was not contesting the election for health reasons,Pat "the Cope" Gallagherwas nominated to contest the constituency as Mooney's Fianna Fáil running mate. Gallagher was elected as an MEP but Mooney was unsuccessful. On 19 January 2010, Mooney was elected on the first count in a Seanad by-election caused by the death of SenatorPeter Callananin October 2009. As a result, he took a seat on the Agricultural panel in the 23rd Seanad returning after an absence of two and a half years.He was re-elected at the 2011 Seanad election. He was the Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on Social Protection. He was also a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agricultural and the Joint Committee on Transport, Energy and Communications.

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas