Senator
Mark Wall
Wall in 2020
Senator
Assumed office
29 June 2020
ConstituencyIndustrial and Commercial Panel
Personal details
Born (1970-01-13) 13 January 1970 (age 53)
Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland
Political partyLabour Party
Parent
Alma materInstitute of Technology, Carlow

Mark Wall (born 13 January 1970) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has served as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel since April 2020.[1]

Biography

Wall attended Churchtown national school and Scoil Eoin in Athy and later received a Diploma in Marketing and Business Studies from I.T. Carlow

His father, Jack Wall was a Senator from 1993 to 1997 and TD from 1997 to 2016.[2]

Political career

He was first elected to Kildare County Council at the 2009 Kildare County Council election and additionally to Athy Town Council at the same time.[3] Wall served as Deputy Mayor of Athy in 2012, Mayor of Athy in 2012–2013, Mayor of Kildare in 2013-2014 and was elected Cathaoirleach of Athy Municipal District in 2015. Wall has served as a board member of Scoil Lorcain Castledermot, Kildare Centre for the Unemployed, Churchtown Castlemitchell Community Development Association, Athy Heritage Company and The Willow Project.[4]

He was an unsuccessful candidate for Kildare South at the 2016 and 2020[5] general elections, but was elected to the Seanad in 2020.[3] Mark Leigh was co-opted to Wall's seat on Kildare County Council following his election to the Seanad.[6]

During his time in the Seanad, Wall has spoken about the issue of gambling addiction and repeatedly raised the issue.[7] In 2021, Wall introduced a bill to ban gambling advertisements, stating that adequate supports should be "in place to help those suffering from (gambling) addiction".[8] A survey conducted by Wall in 2021 found that three in every four Irish people knew someone with a gambling addiction, with Wall stating this was "hugely concerning".[9]

References

  1. ^ "Mark Wall". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Jack Wall". Oireachtas Members Database. 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "ElectionsIreland.org: Mark Wall". electionsireland.org. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Mark Wall - Biography". The Labour Party. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Election 2020: Kildare South". The Irish Times. Dublin. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  6. ^ Hogan, Senan (26 May 2020). "New face to join Kildare Co Council following election of Mark Wall as Senator". KildareNow. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  7. ^ News Desk (16 July 2021). "Gambling among young people must stop according to Labour Senator Mark Wall". South East Radio. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  8. ^ Blaney, Ferghal (18 February 2021). "Labour seeks ban on all gambling adverts despite financial black hole fears". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Three in four Irish people know someone who is battling with a gambling addiction". independent. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

External links

« 25th Seanad «   Members of the 26th Seanad (2020–)   » 27th Seanad »
Labour Party
Categories