Seán Ó Fearghaíl (; born 17 April 1960) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician who has served as the

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland rea ...

since March 2016. He 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 Kildare South constituency since

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 ...

. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Agricultural Panel from 2000 to 2002.

Life and career

Ó Fearghaíl comes from a farming background, and previously worked for

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

. He was elected as a member of Kildare County Council in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He first stood for election to

in the

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

constituency at the 1987 general election, but was unsuccessful. He was unsuccessful again at the 1989 general election. After further defeats at the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

general elections, he stood for

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

in 1997, as a candidate before the Agricultural Panel, but he was again unsuccessful in seeking election. He won a seat in the

21st Seanad This is a list of the members of the 21st Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. Unless otherwise indicated, these Senators were elected or appointed in 1997, after the 1997 general election and served unt ...

following a by-election held in June 2000, after the death of Senator

Patrick McGowan Patrick McGowan may refer to: * Patrick McGowan (Irish politician) (1926–1999), Fianna Fáil politician * Patrick McGowan (New York politician) (1842–1893), Irish-American politician * Patrick D. McGowan (born 1951), American politician from ...

. Ó Fearghaíl won a Dáil seat on his fifth attempt following the 2002 general election, when he defeated the sitting

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...

Alan Dukes Alan Dukes (born 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communication from 1996 to 1997, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of Fine Gael from 1987 to 1990, Minister for Justice from 1986 ...

. At the 2007 general election, he topped the poll and was elected on the first count. He was re-elected at the 2011 general election and at the 2016 general election. He was the Fianna Fáil

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...

and Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade from April 2011 to July 2012. In July 2012, he was appointed as Spokesperson on Constitutional Reform, Arts and Culture, and Defence, while retaining the post of party whip. Ó Fearghaíl sent Éamon Ó Cuív a letter gagging him during the European Fiscal Compact referendum campaign, after Ó Cuív expressed his own opinion of the Compact against the party's wishes. He was elected as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, by its members, at the first sitting of the

32nd Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many soci ...

on 10 March 2016. This was the first time the position was filled by secret ballot. He was re-elected to the position at the first sitting of the 33rd Dáil on 20 February 2020. On 22 November 2021, Ó Fearghaíl began self-isolating and

working from home Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...

after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

Leas-Cheann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

Catherine Connolly Catherine Connolly (born 12 July 1957) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since 2016. She previo ...

took over his duties.

Support for the People's Republic of China

In his role as Ceann Comhairle, Ó Fearghaíl has been a vocal supporter of Chinese Government policy and increasing ties between Ireland and China. In 2018, he warned Teachtaí Dála and Senators that contact with Taiwan would "offend the Chinese government", and could damage Ireland’s business and diplomatic relationship with China. Accusations of lobbying the Irish Government and political parties on behalf of the Chinese government were leveled by members of the Oireachtas in November 2020. Ó Fearghaíl has also praised China's human rights record and economic policies.http://ie.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/sgxw/202110/t20211015_9549101.htm

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ofearghail, Sean 1960 births Living people Fianna Fáil TDs Irish farmers Local councillors in County Kildare Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Politicians from County Kildare Presiding officers of Dáil Éireann Fianna Fáil senators Members of the 33rd Dáil