Chris Andrews (politician)

Chris Andrews (born 25 May 1964) is an Irish politician. He was a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South–East constituency from 2007 to 2011.^[1] In September 2013, he joined the Sinn Féin party.

Family

He is the grandson of Todd Andrews, a leading figure in the early days of Fianna Fáil. His father Niall Andrews and his uncle David Andrews both served as Fianna Fáil TDs, while his first cousin, Barry Andrews was elected a TD at the 2002 general election. He is the fourth member of his family to sit in the Dáil. Another cousin, Ryan Tubridy, is a chatshow host of The Late Late Show on RTÉ One. Andrews is married with two daughters.

Political career

Electoral History

In May 2007, Andrews topped the poll in Dublin South–East, on his second attempt, gaining 6,600 first preferences. He was a Councillor on Dublin City Council between 1999 and 2004 and between October 2006 and May 2007.^[2]

He was convenor of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, and was a member of the Trade, Enterprise and Employment Committee and the European Scrutiny Committee in the 30th Dáil.

He lost his seat at the 2011 general election.

Support for Palestine

During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict he called for an economic, diplomatic and political boycott of Israel, for its ambassador to Ireland to be expelled, and for shops to remove "settler produce" from Israel. He said that Israel had the right to defend itself, but that its disproportionate response meant that "...it can only now be classified as a terror state".^[3] He later told a Russian reporter that there was no electricity in Gaza throughout his time there.^[4] On 30 May 2010, he was one of three Irish politicians who were prevented from leaving Cyprus by authorities to join an international flotilla carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.^[5]

In March 2011, Andrews set off on another flotilla to Gaza. His shipmates included Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh.^[6] In November 2011, Andrews was reported to be on board another ship heading to Gaza on a humanitarian mission.^[7]

Resignation from Fianna Fáil

In August 2012 Andrews resigned from the Fianna Fáil party. He claims that he was disillusioned with the lack of direction the party was taking after it was revealed he had been using a Twitter account to anonymously attack party leader Micheál Martin and other senior members. Andrews claimed that his decision to quit the party was not related to the Twitter account. ^[8]

In September 2013, he joined Sinn Féin and was in discussions with the party for contesting the Dublin City Council elections in 2014.^[9]

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas

References