Patrick Connolly (born 23 September 1953) is a 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 ...

from

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was 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 Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 2002 to 2007. A psychiatric nurse and part-time secretary of the Health Services Branch of the

SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Republic of Ireland, although the union does have a Northern Ireland District ...

trade union, Connolly was elected to

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 2002 general election as an independent TD, campaigning primarily around the defence of services of Monaghan Hospital. He joined with other independent TDs to form a

Technical group In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...

in order to gain speaking rights in the Dáil. He lost his seat at the 2007 general election. After his defeat he stood for election 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 ...

on 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 ...

, but was not elected. He was elected to

Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council () is the local authority of County Monaghan, 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 ...

at the 2009 local elections and was re-elected in both 2014 and 2019. He lost his seat at the 2024 local elections. In August 2020, Connolly was one of 81 people who attended a dinner in Clifden, County Galway organised by 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 ...

Golf Society. The gathering took place contrary to public health advice that had been issued in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Ireland, it has resulted in 1,753,206 cases ...

, and became a major political scandal. Additionally, Connolly had played golf in Cabo Roig,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, on 11 August, so he would have been at most eight days into the 14-day quarantine period which the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

required from people travelling from Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Paudge 1953 births Living people Members of the 29th Dáil Independent TDs Politicians from County Monaghan Members of Monaghan County Council