Dan Boyle (politician)

Dan Boyle
Deputy Leader of Seanad Éireann
In office September 2007 – April 2011
Taoiseach	Bertie Ahern Brian Cowen
Leader	Donnie Cassidy
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Ivana Bacik
Senator
In office August 2007 – April 2011
Constituency	Nominated by the Taoiseach
Teachta Dála
In office June 2002 – June 2007
Constituency	Cork South–Central
Personal details
Born	14 August 1962 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Green Party
Spouse(s)	Bláithín Hurley
Children	1
Alma mater	Cork Institute of Technology

Dan Boyle (born 14 August 1962) is an Irish former Green Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South–Central from 2002 to 2007 and was a member of Seanad Éireann from 2007 to 2011.^[1] He currently works as campaign manager for the Wales Green Party, in their Cardiff office.^[2]

Early life and education

Boyle was born in Chicago, Illinois in the United States to emigrant Irish parents. He has lived in his mother's native city of Cork since eight years of age, in the Turners Cross area of the city. He was educated at local schools; Scoil Chríost Rí and Coláiste Chríost Rí, and at the Cork Institute of Technology where he studied Business Studies and Child Care. He is married to Bláithín Hurley and has one daughter.

Political career

In 1991 he was elected to Cork City Council. At the 2002 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Cork South–Central constituency. He was the Green Party spokesperson on Finance, Social and Family Affairs and Community, Rural Development and the Islands during the 29th Dáil. He was also the party Chief Whip. In 2003 he resigned his seat on Cork City Council where he was replaced by Chris O'Leary.

At the 2007 general election, Boyle lost his seat in the Dáil. He was subsequently part of the Green Party team that negotiated a programme that brought the party into the Irish government for the first time in its history. He was nominated by the Taoiseach to Seanad Éireann on 3 August 2007. He was appointed as Deputy Leader of the Seanad on 16 August 2007.^[3]

He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2009 European Parliament election for the South constituency.^[4]

Commenting on Willie O'Dea's defamation case on 17 February 2010, Boyle said that he has "no confidence" in O'Dea and declaring him to be "compromised".^[5] On 18 February 2010, O'Dea resigned as Minister for Defence.^[6]

He ran for Dáil Éireann in Cork South–Central constituency at the 2011 general election. He failed to get elected, polling 2.5% of the vote and thus losing his right to reclaim expenses. He stood as a candidate in the 2011 Seanad election on the Industrial and Commercial Panel but was not elected. He was an unsuccessful Green Party candidate for Cork City Council at the 2014 local elections. Boyle receives a government pension of just over twenty thousand euro a year.^[7]

Career after Irish politics

In 2011 he launched a music career. His first album is called Third Adolescence.^[8]

He was then hired by the Wales Green Party in 2015 as their campaign manager for the 2016 Welsh Assembly election.^[2]

References

1. "Mr. Dan Boyle". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
2. "Wales Green Party to announce new Leader at campaign office opening". 11 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
3. "New deputy pledges Seanad reform". BreakingNews.ie. 16 August 2007.
4. "Dan Boyle". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
5. "Boyle's 'no confidence' in Minister Willie O'Dea". The Irish Times. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
6. "Willie O'Dea resigns as Minister for Defence". RTÉ News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
7. €5 MILLION PENSION PAY-OUT – AND IT IS GOING UP, 9 July 2015.
8. "Senator Dan Boyle is hoping to strike a chord with the public with the launch of his first album". RTÉ News. 15 December 2011.