Seán Canney (born 6 April 1960) is an Irish Independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency since 2016. He served as a Minister of State from 2016 to 2017 and again from 2018 to 2020. A native of

Belclare Belclare () is a small village in County Galway, western Ireland. The village is on the R333 road approximately 7 km. from Tuam. It has a little parish church (The Church of the Sacred Heart), a small primary school, a shop, pub and post ...

, Tuam,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

. Canney was campaign manager for his brother-in-law,

Paddy McHugh Patrick McHugh (born 23 January 1953) is a former Irish politician. He was an Independent Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency. McHugh was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election, getting a 15.8% share of the vo ...

, in the 2002 general election, in which McHugh gained a seat in the Galway East constituency. As an Independent candidate, Canney was elected to Galway County Council in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, on his first attempt. He was re-elected in each of the subsequent local elections in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In both the 2009 and 2014 elections, he topped the poll in the Tuam local electoral area. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2011 general election in the Galway East constituency, receiving 5,567 first preference votes. He served as Mayor of

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

for the term 2007 to 2008, and served on a number of boards and committees. He joined the Independent Alliance in advance of the 2016 general election. At the 2016 general election, he topped the poll in Galway East, securing 8,447 first preference votes. After lengthy government formation talks, the Independent Alliance supported the nomination of Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on 6 May 2016, allowing Kenny to become the first leader of Fine Gael to be re-appointed to this office. He was appointed a member of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness, a position he held until his appointment on 19 May 2016 by the new government as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief. He served in that position until 3 June 2017, when he was succeeded by

Kevin "Boxer" Moran Kevin Moran (born 12 May 1963) is an Irish former Independent politician who has served as a Minister of State from 2017 to 2020. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency from 2016 to 2020. He was a member of ...

, part of an arrangement within the Independent Alliance. He has advocated the reopening the Western Rail Corridor to trains from Galway to Claremorris. He left the Independent Alliance in May 2018, but continued to support the government. In a reshuffle after the resignation of Denis Naughten from cabinet, Canney returned to the ministerial ranks on 16 October 2018. On 13 October 2018, he was appointed by the government on nomination by

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

as Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment with special responsibility for natural resources, community affairs and digital development. Canney was re-elected at the February 2020 general election. He stayed in ministerial office until the formation of a new government on 27 June 2020. He sits in the Regional Group in the 33rd Dáil.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canney, Sean Living people Independent TDs Local councillors in County Galway Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 32nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 32nd Dáil People from Tuam Politicians from County Galway 1960 births Alumni of the Institute of Technology, Sligo Members of the 33rd Dáil