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Billy Kelleher

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Billy Kelleher
MEP
Kelleher in 2021
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
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
17 February 1993 – 6 June 1997
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
Cork City Councillor
In office
1999–2004
ConstituencyCork City North East
Personal details
BornWilliam Kelleher
(1968-01-20) 20 January 1968 (age 57)
County Cork, Ireland
Party
Spouse
Liza Davis
​
(m. 2002)​
Children3
Alma materPallaskenry Agricultural College

William Kelleher (born 20 January 1968) is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2019. He is a member of Fianna Fáil, part of Renew Europe. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency from 1997 to 2019 and a Senator as a Taoiseach's nominee from 1993 to 1997.[1] He was a Minister of State from 2007 to 2011.

Early and personal life

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Kelleher, who is from the White's Cross/Glanmire area of County Cork,[2] was educated at Sacred Heart College, Carrignavar, County Cork and at third level in Pallaskenry Agricultural College, County Limerick. He is married to Liza Davis. They have two daughters and one son. He is a cousin of the late Fine Gael TD Liam Burke.[3] Prior to entering politics, he worked as a farmer.[4]

Political career

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20th Seanad

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He was an unsuccessful candidate for Fianna Fáil in Cork North-Central at the 1992 general election, missing out by 25 votes.[4] In December 1992, lawyers for Kelleher claimed that the election count 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.[5] In 1993, he was nominated to the 20th Seanad by the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds.

Dáil Éireann (1997–2019)

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Kelleher was elected to the 28th Dáil at the 1997 general election and retained his seat at the 2002, 2007, 2011 and 2016 general elections.[3] He served as the assistant Government Chief Whip.[6] In January 2006, Kelleher became embroiled in a minor controversy when he was caught speeding outside Cashel, County Tipperary on his way to Leinster House in Dublin. He was fined and received two penalty points on his driving licence. This came in a week when the government was coming under fire over poor road safety statistics.[6]

After the 2007 general election, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, with special responsibility for labour affairs from 2007 to 2009 and with special responsibility for trade and commerce from 2009 to 2011.

He retained his seat at the 2011 general election, though an opinion poll from The Irish Times had predicted that he was in danger of losing his seat.[7] Kelleher was the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Health. He had called for a rise in the legal age to purchase alcohol from off-licences.[8] He acted as Fianna Fáil's director of elections in 2016.[9]

European Parliament (2019–present)

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At the 2019 European Parliament election, he was elected as an MEP for Ireland South.[10] Kelleher was a full member of the ANIT committee.[11]

In 2020, he asked party leader Micheál Martin to instigate an independent inquiry into the Fianna Fáil party's decline.[12]

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 the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13] Kelleher travelled with Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley to Poland and Ukraine. In Lviv, they met Andriy Sadovyi, the Mayor of Lviv, and Maksym Kozytskyi, the Governor of Lviv Oblast.[14][15] When asked by RTÉ how many Ukrainian refugees Ireland should take in, Kelleher said that "Ireland will have to play its part in providing accommodation and lots of it."[16] In March 2022, Kelleher said that Sinn Féin's decision to remove thousands of media statements shows that its position on "major issues have always been wrong. Even they're embarrassed by them."[17] In April 2022, he asked Kerry Group (a company in which he owned shares) to cease operations in Russia.[18] Kerry Group decided to suspend their operations in Russia and Belarus, which was welcomed by Kelleher.[19]

In 2024, following the 2024 European Elections, Kelleher was elected[20] (unopposed) as 1st Vice President of the Renew Europe Group, succeeding Malik Azmani from the VVD (Netherlands). Kelleher retained his full memberships of the Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Taxation (FISC) Committees, as well as the European Parliament's Delegation with the United States of America.[21]

Kelleher sought to be nominated as Fianna Fáil's candidate in the 2025 presidential election,[22] but Jim Gavin was selected as the party's nominee on 9 September 2025.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Billy Kelleher". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  2. ^ "About Billy". Billy Kelleher. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025. Born in 1968, Billy grew up on a farm in White's Cross, near Glanmire, in Co. Cork
  3. ^ a b "Billy Kelleher". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Profile: Billy Kelleher (FF)". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  5. ^ Gwynn Morgan, David (1 December 1992). "Taking lawyers to the election count". The Irish Times. p. 4.
  6. ^ a b Brennock, Mark (11 February 2006). "Government deputy chief whip apologises over speeding". The Irish Times.
  7. ^ Collins, Stephen (14 February 2011). "FF Cork vote collapses – poll". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  8. ^ "FF TD suggests rise in off-licence purchase age". RTÉ News. 10 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  9. ^ McInerney, Sarah. "Fianna Fail in the dark over Kenny 'attack ad'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  10. ^ Roche, Barry. "Grace O'Sullivan pips Deirdre Clune to fourth Ireland South seat". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Major EU blocks take 'sensible' position ahead of transport vote - Kelleher". Irish Farmers Journal. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  12. ^ McGee, Harry (28 September 2020). "Fianna Fáil MEP asks Taoiseach for independent inquiry into party's decline". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  13. ^ Gleeson, Colin (26 February 2022). "Pressure grows for expulsion of Russian ambassador". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  14. ^ Lord, Miriam (12 March 2022). "Miriam Lord: Uncharted territory for 21st-century Europe". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Ukraine trip 'opened my eyes', says Kelleher". Echo Live. 9 March 2022. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  16. ^ Cunningham, Paul (6 March 2022). "Fianna Fáil politicians hold talks in city of Lviv". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  17. ^ Gataveckaite, Gabija (14 March 2022). "Sinn Féin deletes thousands of statements from its website due to 'outdated content'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  18. ^ Loughlin, Elaine (3 April 2022). "Fianna Fáil MEP urges Irish firms to pull their operations out of Russia". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  19. ^ O'Connor, Niall (6 April 2022). "MEP Clare Daly criticises EU sanctions on Russia in European Parliament speech". The Journal. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Renew Europe grows stronger and elects its Presidency". Renew Europe. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  21. ^ "Home | Billy KELLEHER | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 20 January 1968. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  22. ^ Hurley, Sandra; Lehane, Micheál (28 August 2025). "Billy Kelleher seeking support within FF in bid for Áras". RTÉ News. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  23. ^ Cunningham, Paul; Lehane, Mícheál (9 September 2025). "Jim Gavin wins Fianna Fáil presidential nomination". RTÉ News. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
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