Dominic Hannigan (born 1 July 1965) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the Meath East constituency from 2011 to 2016. He was a

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

for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

from 2007 to 2011.

Early life

Hannigan was born in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

. He was educated at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

with a degree in Civil Engineering, at

City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...

with a Masters in Transport and at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

with a Masters in Finance. He moved from Ireland to London in 1987. Hannigan returned to Ireland in 2004 and worked as a

Civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

Political career

Early years: 2004–2007

Hannigan entered electoral politics when he was elected as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

councillor to

Meath County Council Meath County Council () is the local authority of County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and de ...

for the

Slane Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 (Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2022 census ...

electoral area at the 2004 local elections, serving as chairperson of the council's Planning and Economic Development Committee. Hannigan subsequently joined the Labour Party in October 2004, and first stood for

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

at the 2005 Meath by-election, which saw the Labour vote increase by over 3,000 first preference votes since the 2002 general election. His next election was the 2007 general election, again missing out on the third seat, this time to Thomas Byrne.

Seanad Éireann: 2007–2011

As part of an election pact between Labour and

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

for the 2007 elections to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

, Hannigan was elected on the first count to the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

of the Seanad. In Seanad Éireann he was the Labour Party

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and spokesperson on Commuter Issues, Environment and Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Defence. He was one of the first members of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

to support the candidacy of

Eamon Gilmore Eamon Gilmore (born 24 April 1955) is an Irish diplomat and former Labour Party politician. He has served as European Union Special Representative for Human Rights since February 2019. He has also been the European Union Special Envoy for th ...

, following the resignation of

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...

as leader of the Labour Party on 23 August 2007. He subsequently became the chairman of Eamon Gilmore's leadership campaign to become leader. In September 2007 he submitted proposals to the Department of Environment and Local Government for town councils for Ashbourne and the Meath coastal area, and called for the abolition of county managers. Hannigan said in 2011 that population growth during the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

years was more dramatic in Meath than elsewhere in Ireland and that this was having a profound effect on the county's education system. He spoke in favour of a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Slane bypass in February 2011.

Dáil Éireann: 2011–2016

At the 2011 general election Hannigan topped the poll in Meath East. In doing so Hannigan became one of the first two openly gay people to be elected to Dáil Éireann, a distinction he shares with Dublin North-West's John Lyons. The ''

Meath Chronicle The ''Meath Chronicle'' is a local newspaper serving County Meath, Ireland and based in the town of Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the con ...

'' compared Hannigan to

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...

as he "flitted at high speed from one spot to the next" on the campaign trail. He was "followed by a large posse of journalists and camera crews" when party leader Eamon Gilmore joined him during the campaign. Hannigan was elected Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

in June 2011. He was elected Chairman of the Joint Committee on EU Affairs in January 2012, following which he stepped down as Chairman of the Good Friday Agreement Committee. In a television interview broadcast in April 2012, he confirmed that the 99.8% state-owned bank

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four commercial banks in the Republic of Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of ge ...

had paid one-and-a-half billion Euro to unsecured bank

bondholders In finance, a bond is a type of Security (finance), security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to provide cash flow to the creditor (e.g. repay the principal (i.e. a ...

for which neither the bank nor the Irish state had no legal liability. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He unsuccessfully contested the

2020 Seanad election An indirect election to the 26th Seanad took place after the 2020 Irish general election, with postal ballots due on 30 and 31 March. Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas, with Dáil Éireann as the lower house of representative ...

Post politics

Hannigan is a director of the Lough Mask Distillery.

Personal life

Hannigan is openly gay.

References

External links

Dominic Hannigan's page on Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannigan, Dominic 1965 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Irish gay politicians Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of Meath County Council Members of the 23rd Seanad Members of the 31st Dáil People from Drogheda Politicians from County Louth Labour Party (Ireland) senators LGBTQ legislators in Ireland 20th-century Irish LGBTQ people 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people Industrial and Commercial Panel senators Alumni of the University of London Alumni of City, University of London