Brian Stanley (born January 1958) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parl ...

(TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency since the 2020 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 for the

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

constituency. He was appointed Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in July 2020. He unsuccessfully contested the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

general elections in Laois-Offaly. Stanley was elected at the 1999 local elections as a member of

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above t ...

Town Council, and was re-elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, and in 2009. He was elected as a member of Laois County Council for the Portlaoise local electoral area at the 2004 local elections, and was re-elected in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

. His wife, Caroline Dwane Stanley, is a member of Laois County Council. In July 2020, Stanley was appointed as the chair of the Public Accounts Committee. He is the first Sinn Féin TD to hold the office. In December 2020, Stanley became embroiled in controversies over a number of tweets, originating with a tweet that referenced the Narrow Water Ambush by the IRA in 1979. In response, Stanley offered apologies before deleting his Twitter account and asked for speaking time in Dáil Eireann to address the situation. Another tweet made by Stanley about

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to D ...

was criticized by

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

, saying the tweet had an "inference of homophobia."

References

External links

Brian Stanley's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Brian 1958 births Living people Local councillors in County Laois Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Politicians from County Laois Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Members of the 33rd Dáil