Alan Kelly (politician)

Alan Kelly TD
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 July 2014
Preceded by	Phil Hogan
Deputy leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 July 2014
Leader	Joan Burton
Preceded by	Joan Burton
Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport
In office 10 March 2011 – 11 July 2014
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 February 2011
Constituency	Tipperary North
Member of the European Parliament
In office 8 June 2009 – 9 March 2011
Constituency	South
Senator
In office 24 July 2007 – 8 June 2009
Constituency	Agricultural Panel
Personal details
Born	(1975-07-13) 13 July 1975 Portroe, County Tipperary, Ireland
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Regina O'Connor
Children	2
Alma mater	University College Cork University College Dublin
Website	Official website

Alan Kelly (born 13 July 1975) is an Irish Labour Party politician and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. He is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Tipperary North having been elected at the 2011 general election.^[1] He is a former Senator and Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Early and private life

Kelly is from Portroe just outside Nenagh, County Tipperary, and is the son of Tom and Nan Kelly. Educated at Nenagh CBS, he subsequently attended University College Cork (UCC) where he completed a BA in English and History in 1995. Two years later he completed an M.Phil in Political History. Kelly continued his education at Boston College where he achieved a Certificate in Leadership in 1999. He returned to Ireland shortly after this and completed an MBS in eCommerce in 2002. Kelly subsequently worked as an eBusiness Manager with Bord Fáilte and Fáilte Ireland.

Kelly is married to Regina O'Connor, a primary school teacher who was raised in Waterville, County Kerry. The couple have two children; a daughter and a son.

Political career

Kelly was highly politicised from an early age. In his final year of secondary school he canvassed for the Labour Party during the 1992 general election. He remained active in left-wing politics in university, firstly by establishing the Jim Kemmy Branch of the Labour Party in UCC and later by becoming involved in a number of by-election and local election campaigns in Cork and the wider Munster area.

Kelly became Chair of Labour Youth in 2000, having previously served as Co-Chair.

In 2007 Kelly launched his own political career when he secured election to Seanad Éireann for the Agricultural Panel. He was the only Labour Party candidate in that grouping.^[2] After the election of Eamon Gilmore as leader of the Labour Party in 2007, Kelly was appointed as Labour Party spokesperson on Tourism and was Seanad spokesperson on Finance and Local Government.

Kelly was elected as an MEP for the South constituency at the 2009 European Parliament election, taking the last seat in a tight battle between him, Sinn Féin's Toireasa Ferris and the Independent Kathy Sinnott^[3][4] Kelly was a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

Kelly promised that he would see out his five-year term in the European Parliament, but allowed his name go forward as a Labour Party candidate at the 2011 general election. He ran in the Tipperary North constituency and was successful, receiving 9,559 first preference votes (19.8%) and securing the third and final seat at the expense of Fianna Fáil's sitting TD, Máire Hoctor.^[5] Phil Prendergast replaced him as MEP for the South constituency.

When the new coalition government was formed Kelly joined the junior ministerial ranks as Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport.^[6]

In May 2014, Kelly confirmed that he would be contesting the vote for a new deputy leader of the Labour party following the resignation of Eamon Gilmore as party leader.^[7]

He was elected as Deputy leader of the Labour Party on 4 July 2014.^[8] On July 11, he was appointed to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.^[9]

References

External links

• Official website
• Alan Kelly's page on the Labour Party website