Joseph John O'Toole (born 20 July 1947) is an Irish former

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

, who was a member of

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 ...

from 1987 to 2011. He was born and brought up in

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, O'Toole was a teacher for ten years and then a school principal in

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. From 1990 to 2001, he was appointed General Secretary of the

Irish National Teachers' Organisation The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) (), founded in 1868, is the oldest and largest teachers' trade union in Ireland. It represents teachers at primary level in the Republic of Ireland, and at primary and post-primary level in Nor ...

(INTO), and from 2001 to 2003, he was President of the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

(ICTU). He lives in Kilsallaghan, County Dublin. He was first elected to the 18th Seanad in 1987 for the

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

(NUI) constituency, and was re-elected by the same constituency at each subsequent election until he retired from politics at the 2011 Seanad election. In the Seanad, he was a member of the Parliamentary Joint Finance Committee. His autobiography "''Looking under stones: roots, family and a Dingle childhood''", was published in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otoole, Joe 1947 births Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin Independent members of Seanad Éireann Irish schoolteachers Trade unionists from County Kerry Members of the 18th Seanad Members of the 19th Seanad Members of the 20th Seanad Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 22nd Seanad Members of the 23rd Seanad Politicians from County Kerry Presidents of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Members of Seanad Éireann for the National University of Ireland People from Dingle