Michael Brennan (born 24 September 1946) is an Irish former politician from

Adare Adare (; ) is a village in County Limerick, Ireland, located southwest of the city of Limerick. Adare is designated as a heritage town by the Irish government. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. History The River M ...

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

who served as 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 ...

. Brennan was a

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

member of

Limerick County Council Limerick County Council () was the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council had 28 elected ...

for over 20 years, and served as chairman of the council in 2000. He contested the 1997 general election 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 ...

candidate having failed to get a Fianna Fáil nomination to run for the party. He later rejoined Fianna Fáil and was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

in 2002, but left the party again on 29 April 2004 to join the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats (, literally "The Democratic Party"), commonly referred to as the PDs, were a conservative liberal political party in Ireland. The party's history spanned 24 years, from its formation in 1985 to its dissolution in 20 ...

(PD), after a dispute arising from the end of the

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

. Under the

Local Government Act 2001 The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and amendment of pr ...

, 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 ...

could no longer serve as local councillors, and Brennan's wife Rose sought a Fianna Fáil nomination to stand for election as his successor in the

Bruff Bruff () is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork (city), Cork road (R512 road (Ireland), R512). The town lies on the River Maigue, Morning Star river, with two bridg ...

Electoral Area. She did not win a nomination, and speculation that she would be imposed as a candidate by the national party did not happen. Rose Brennan also joined the Progressive Democrats, and was elected as a PD county councillor for Bruff. She subsequently became deputy

Cathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish language, Irish for Chair (officer), chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or speaker (politics), presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Repub ...

of Limerick County Council, and in the 2009 local elections she was elected as a

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...

member of the council for the

area. At the 2007 general election Brennan stood as a candidate for the Progressive Democrats in the Limerick West constituency. He polled 1,935 first preferences, 4.79% of the vote on a quota of 10,108 and did not win a seat. Brennan was not returned to the Seanad in the 2007 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Michael 1946 births Living people Progressive Democrats senators Fianna Fáil senators Independent candidates in Dáil elections Members of the 22nd Seanad Members of Limerick County Council Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Progressive Democrats candidates in Dáil elections Fianna Fáil local councillors