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Pearse Doherty

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Pearse Doherty
TD
Doherty in 2024
Deputy leader of Sinn Féin in Dáil Éireann
Incumbent
Assumed office
2018
PresidentMary Lou McDonald
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2016
ConstituencyDonegal
In office
November 2010 – February 2016
ConstituencyDonegal South-West
Senator
In office
13 September 2007 – 26 November 2010
ConstituencyAgricultural Panel
Personal details
Born (1977-07-06) 6 July 1977 (age 47)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partySinn Féin
Spouse
Róisín Doherty
​
(m. 2009)​
Children4
Alma materDublin Institute of Technology
WebsiteOfficial website

Pearse Daniel Doherty (born 6 July 1977) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously a TD for the Donegal South-West constituency from 2010 to 2016. He also previously served as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 2007 to 2010.[1]

Early life

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Pearse Daniel Doherty was born in Glasgow on 6 July 1977, the son of Irish parents. When he was three years old, the family returned home to the Irish-speaking town of Gweedore, where he grew up and became fluent in Irish.[2] He enrolled in a civil engineering degree course at Dublin Institute of Technology in 1996, but dropped out after 2 years to take on a job in the industry.[3] In 1999, Doherty, Matt Carthy and two other Sinn Féin activists were arrested in Dublin. At a court hearing it was alleged that Doherty had abused a Garda, though it was argued Doherty's comment was the consequence of a "simple misunderstanding" and was not at anyway intended to offend the Garda. He was convicted, but was given the benefit of the Probation Act in lieu of a criminal record.[4][5]

He completed two years of his civil engineering course, earning a national certificate that entitled him to work as a civil engineering technician. He then left third-level education to pursue a job in that field.[3][6] He later resumed his studies by enrolling in another civil engineering course at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, but dropped out in order to run for Dáil Éireann in the 2002 general election.[3]

Political career

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A member of Sinn Féin since 1996,[7] Doherty was a founding member of Ógra Shinn Féin and served on its national executive between 1998 and 2001.[8]

In the 2002 general election, Doherty ran unsuccessfully in the Donegal South-West constituency.[9] On 11 June 2004, he ran simultaneously at the local elections for Donegal County Council and at the 2004 European Parliament elections. He failed to win a seat in the European Parliament, but was elected to Donegal County Council for the Glenties local electoral area.[9][10]

Doherty's second attempt to win a Dáil seat, at the 2007 general election, also proved unsuccessful; he received 21.2% of the first-preference vote.[9] However, he was elected to Seanad Éireann as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel on 24 July 2007.[10]

On 12 July 2010, the High Court granted Doherty a judicial review into why the government had not held a by-election to fill the Dáil seat vacated by Fianna Fáil's Pat "the Cope" Gallagher when he won election to the European Parliament in June 2009.[11] On 2 November 2010, the High Court ruled that the government had delayed unreasonably in holding the by-election. In response to the ruling, the government announced that the Donegal South-West by-election would be held on 25 November 2010. Doherty stood as the Sinn Féin candidate and won the by-election by a substantial margin, earning 39.8 percent of the first-preference vote.[12] On taking his seat in the Dáil, Doherty was appointed Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Finance.[13] However, the Dáil was dissolved on 1 February 2011, at which point Doherty had been a TD for just over nine weeks.[14]

Shortly before the 2011 general election, several newspapers alleged that Doherty had misled the public by stating on various Sinn Féin and Oireachtas webpages that he had formerly worked as a "civil engineer", an occupation that presumes a degree-level qualification. Doherty insisted that he had "always been upfront" about the fact that he had not completed his degree, clarified his educational credentials, and acknowledged that he had qualified as a civil engineering technician and not a civil engineer.[3][15]

In that election Doherty topped the poll decisively in Donegal South-West, attaining 14,262 first-preference votes (32.97%) .[9][16]

Doherty represented Sinn Féin in the Oireachtas delegation that met the Bundestag's Budgetary and European Affairs committees in Berlin in late January 2012.[17]

It was revealed in June 2012, that Doherty put €8,000 worth of unspent travel and accommodation expenses towards hiring part-time party workers, despite these expenses being supposed to be returned to the Oireachtas under rules introduced in 2010.[18] A report found that he had not breached any expense rules, and cleared him of any wrongdoing.[19]

At the 2016 general election, after a redrawing of constituency boundaries, Doherty was elected to the new five-seater Donegal constituency on the 8th count with 10,300 votes.[9][20]

He topped the poll at the 2020 general election with 21,044 first-preference votes (27.17%),[21] and was appointed leader of Sinn Féin's negotiations team.[22]

On 16 June 2022, Doherty clashed with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar in the Dáil. Doherty attacked Varadkar for being "out of touch" and brought up Varadkar's legal issues with the DPP. Varadkar responded by calling it a "cheap shot" and brought up a 1999 in which Doherty was convicted of abusing a Garda, saying "You abused, mistreated a Garda Síochána. For that you were prosecuted. You were found guilty. Yes, you got away without a conviction because of your age at the time, but you were actually prosecuted. You were arrested. That's what happened to you."[4][23]

Personal life

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Doherty continues to reside in Gweedore. He is married to Róisín, a school teacher from County Monaghan. They have four sons.[24][25]

References

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  1. ^ "Pearse Doherty". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  2. ^ De Bréadún, Deaglán (13 November 2010). "You'll be getting my number one and there's more again in that house and down the lane". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Reilly, Gavan (3 February 2011). "Sinn Féin's Doherty forced to clarify job qualifications". The Journal. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Downing, John (16 June 2022). "Varadkar v Doherty: The story behind the garda 'abuse' remarks and a bitter Dáil row". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  5. ^ "SF councillor is convicted of public order offences". The Irish Times. 9 July 1999. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Sinn Féin Donegal South-West candidate's biographical error". BBC News. 4 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  7. ^ Kerr, Aine (9 February 2011). "Donegal South-West: Poster boy gives party credibility". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 September 2024. The former senator-turned-TD (33) only joined Sinn Fein in 1996 and is a generation removed from the Troubles and the traditional perceptions of Sinn Fein, which has left the party struggling for prominence in the south.
  8. ^ Finn, Christina (26 June 2016). "Pearse Doherty: 'Despite my passion to be part of Sinn Féin, being a TD is something I may regret'". The Journal. Retrieved 30 September 2024. The 38-year-old TD came to this politics game young. A founding member of Ógra Shinn Féin he served on its National Executive between 1998 and 2001
  9. ^ a b c d e Ashmore, Chris (10 February 2020). "The remarkable rise of the Sinn Féin vote in Donegal in recent years". www.donegallive.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Pearse Doherty". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Bye-election judicial review is allowed". RTÉ News. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  12. ^ "Live updates: Donegal by-election count". RTÉ News. 26 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Doherty 'honoured' to be Sinn Fein finance spokesman". Donegal Daily. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Information about Ireland election 25 February 2011 – Political Science Department – Trinity College Dublin". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2024. On Tuesday 1 February 2011 the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, acting on the advice of the Taoiseach (prime minister), Brian Cowen, dissolved the 30th Dáil.
  15. ^ Kerr, Aine (4 February 2011). "Doherty 'pulls a Bertie' with his engineer claim". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Election 2011: National Summary". RTÉ News. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011.
  17. ^ "Oireachtas delegation in Bundestag meeting". RTÉ News. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  18. ^ Brennan, Michael (20 June 2012). "How Sinn Féin TDs are breaking the rules on expenses". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  19. ^ Reilly, Gavan (28 June 2012). "Oireachtas confirms Pearse Doherty did NOT breach expenses rules". The Journal. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  20. ^ Moriarty, Gerry (28 February 2016). "Donegal count: Independent Thomas Pringle takes final seat". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Donegal constituency". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  22. ^ "Pearse Doherty to lead Sinn Féin negotiations team". Donegal News. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  23. ^ Cunningham, Paul (16 June 2022). "Varadkar and Doherty clash in heated Dáil exchange". RTÉ News. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Pearse Doherty TD". sinnfein.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2024. Pearse lives in the Gaeltacht area of Gweedore with his wife Roisín and his four young sons. A member of Guth na Gaeltachta and fluent Irish speaker, Pearse is a keen advocate of the Irish Language and the development of the Gaeltacht regions.
  25. ^ "Doherty has another date marked in his calender [sic]". Irish Independent. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
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