Declan Breathnach
Teachta Dála
In office
February 2016 – February 2020
ConstituencyLouth
Personal details
Born (1958-06-03) 3 June 1958 (age 65)
Knockbridge, County Louth, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Dorothy Breathnach
​
​
(m. 1981; div. 2007)​
Children2
Alma materSt Patrick's College, Dublin

Declan Breathnach (born 3 June 1958) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 2016 to 2020.[1][2]

Early life

A native of Knockbridge, Dundalk, Breathnach was educated at Dundalk CBS (now Coláiste Rís) and St Patrick's College (which has become a part of Dublin City University), where he earned a Bachelor of Education. He has worked within primary schools for 35 years as a teacher and principal.[3]

Political career

Breathnach has been a member of Fianna Fáil since his early teens. He had served as a Cumann Secretary, member of the officer board of Louth Comhairle Dáil Ceantair (constituency council) and as the Louth constituency representative on the Fianna Fáil National Executive, a position held up until his election as a member of Louth County Council in 1991. Since Breathnach's first election to Louth County Council in 1991, he successfully has retained his seat for 25 years, across 5 elections.[4]

He served as Joint Chairperson of the Memorandum of Association between Down Council and Louth Council from 2010 to 2015. He also was a member of the East Border Regions committee, and served as the Chairperson of the Louth County Council Special Policy Group on Infrastructure, European and Cross-Border Matters.[citation needed]

Breathnach served as a Louth County Councillor until 2016. He successfully contested the Louth constituency at 2016 general election, receiving 9,099 first preference votes (13.5%).[2][5] He previously contested the Louth constituency at 2011 general election but was not elected.[6]

Breathnach was the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on North-South Bodies & Cross-Border Co-Operation and is also Vice-Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He also served as Vice-Chairperson of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.[citation needed]

Breathnach lost his Dáil seat at the 2020 general election, leaving the Louth constituency without a Fianna Fáil TD for the first time in the history of the state. He also contested the 2020 Seanad election, but was unsuccessful.

On 9 July 2020, Breathnach formally apologised to Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald regarding a tweet from 11 October 2018. The tweet, posted on the second anniversary of the murder of Garda Tony Golden, has been deleted since. The tweet accused McDonald of being a hypocrite and condoning the deaths of multiple Gardaí, the settlement included a formal apology to McDonald but other terms were kept confidential.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Election 2016: Declan Breathnach". RTÉ News. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "32nd Dáil - Louth First Preference Votes". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Declan Breathnach TD". Fianna Fáil. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Declan Breathnach". IrelandElection.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Declan Breathnach". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. ^ "31st Dáil - Louth First Preference Votes". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  7. ^ Phelan, Shane (22 December 2018). "McDonald sues Fianna Fáil TD for defamation over Twitter comment". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  8. ^ O'Loughlin, Ann (9 July 2020). "Mary Lou McDonald settles with ex-Fianna Fáil TD over alleged defamatory tweet". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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