Brendan Ryan

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Brendan Ryan (born August 1946 in Athy, County Kildare) is an Irish politician and member of the 22nd Seanad Éireann for the Labour Party representing the National University of Ireland constituency.

Brendan Ryan was first elected to the Senate by graduates of the National University of Ireland in 1981. He was a member of the Senate from 1981 until 1993, when he was defeated. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1997, and has been a member since then. He was an independent Senator until 1999, when he joined the Labour Party.

His political interest arises from his involvement in the 1970s and 80s with The Simon Community, an organisation which works with and for homeless people. He is currently leader of the Labour Group in the Irish Senate.

In 1999 he stood as a Labour Party candidate in the European Parliament election for the Munster constituency, and in 2002, he stood in the general election in the Cork South Central constituency. He was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Brendan is a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the Cork Institute of Technology. In 1995 he wrote "Keeping Us In The Dark", a book concerning censorship of freedom of information in Ireland. He also writes a weekly column for the Evening Echo newspaper.

Brendan is a fluent speaker of the Irish language. He is always willing to debate points of legislation and will spend long periods of time doing so.

In May 2006, Senator Brendan Ryan introduced the Genealogy & Heraldry Bill, 2006 [1] in Seanad Éireann which aims to provide a sound legislative basis for the State's delivery of heraldic services.