Malcolm Byrne
Malcolm Byrne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senator | |
| Assumed office April 2020 | |
| Constituency | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office November 2019 – February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Wexford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 April 1974[1] Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Malcolm Byrne (born 25 April 1974) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel since April 2020. He previously served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency from 2019 to 2020.[2]
He was elected in a by-election in November 2019, only to lose his seat in the subsequent general election in February 2020.[3] He was a member of Wexford County Council from 2009 to 2019.[1][4]
Early life
Born in Gorey, County Wexford, in 1974. Byrne is the eldest child from a family of five. He attended CBS Secondary and Loreto and CBS Primary Schools in Gorey, later studying law at University College Dublin.[5]
He was Head of Communications with the Higher Education Authority until 2019, and has been Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Ireland, the Union of Students in Ireland's former Education Officer and a former executive member of the European Students' Union. In 2014, he was named as one of the European 40 Under 40, in the European Young Leaders Programme.[4]
Political career
When first elected to Gorey Town Council on the first count in 1999, he was its youngest member at the age of 25.[1] He topped the poll again at the 2004 local elections.[1] He was first elected to Wexford County Council in 2009 for Gorey, and elected Chairman following his 2014 re-election.[6][7]
Byrne is openly gay. In January 2006, The Sun included his picture on the cover of its Irish edition beneath the headline "Bertie's FF Man in Gay Web Shame."[8] The "Gay Web Shame" alleged by the tabloid proved on closer examination to simply be a profile on the dating website Gaydar.[8] Byrne responded at the time: "I have not, nor have I ever, done anything illegal and I am not a hypocrite in any way. My views on gay rights issues are well known. I am not married with four children or anything like that, so there is no suggestion of hypocrisy."[1] His family and political career suffered as a result and he was not selected for candidacy in the 2007 general election following this incident.[8]
He was chosen to run for Fianna Fáil in the 2016 general election in the Wexford constituency, although he failed to win a seat.[6]
He contested the 2019 European Parliament election for Fianna Fail in the South constituency[9] but was eliminated on the 16th Count.
Byrne was elected as a TD at the 2019 Wexford by-election. His maiden speech was about housing solutions and the need to address the challenges facing GenerationRent. In an interview he said he could envisage a United Ireland where the 12th of July and Saint Patrick's Day were public holidays and spoke about how Ireland needs to ensure Unionists feel at home in a new agreed state and that may mean addressing issues such as Ireland joining the Commonwealth.[10]
Byrne lost his seat at the next general election, on 8 February 2020,[11] following what he called "a dirty campaign".[12] His defeat after only 71 days made him the TD with the second-shortest term of service, after the Anti-H-Block TD Kieran Doherty, who died on hunger strike in August 1981 only 52 days after his election.[13] On 31 March 2020, Byrne was deemed elected to Seanad Éireann following the 2020 election to the upper house.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Cruel smear campaign by rivals won't beat me says gay FF councillor". Sunday Independent. 29 January 2006.
- ^ "Malcolm Byrne". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ "Three out of four seats filled in by-elections". RTÉ News. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Byrne wins place in Euro 'top 40'". Gorey Guardian. 28 January 2014.
- ^ "Personal details". Fiannafail.ie. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Malcolm Byrne". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ^ "Gorey's Malcolm Byrne is new chairman of Wexford Co. Council". Wexford Echo. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ a b c "Out of touch". Irish Independent. 14 April 2007.
- ^ "Billy Kelleher suffers shock loss in bid to become MEP candidate". Irish Examiner. 16 March 2019.
- ^ "FF TD: United Ireland could celebrate The Twelfth and rejoin Commonwealth". Independent.ie. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ "General Election 2020 Live results: Wexford". RTÉ. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ Gallagher, Conor (10 February 2020). "Wexford results: Verona Murphy elected on 11th count". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Labour hits rock bottom and the second-shortest serving TD ever: 6 election records made this year". The Journal. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Seanad general election 2020". www.oireachtas.ie. Oireachtas. Retrieved 31 March 2020.