Terence Flanagan (born 1 January 1975) is an Irish

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 ...

politician who served as a

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

lor from 2019 to 2024. He previously 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 Dublin North-East constituency from 2007 to 2016.

Career

He was a member of

from 2003 until 2007, originally co-opted onto the council to replace

Richard Bruton Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North from 2016 to 2024, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He was the Cha ...

, due to the ending of

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 ...

s in September 2003, he was elected to the Council in 2004 obtaining 2594 first preference votes. Upon Flanagan's election to the Dáil in 2007 for the now defunct Dublin North East Constituency, his brother Declan Flanagan P.C was co-opted onto the City Council as his replacement. In February 2008, Flanagan made a speech which was notably similar to a previous one by Labour Party TD

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy leader of the Labour Party fro ...

. He initially denied that the speech was copied, but later issued a statement admitting and apologising for the

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

. He was Fine Gael deputy spokesperson on the Environment, with special responsibility for Housing, from October 2007 to March 2011. Flanagan was re-elected to the Dáil in February 2011 with 12,332 first-preference votes. Flanagan was expelled from the Fine Gael parliamentary party on 2 July 2013, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013. On 13 September 2013, he and six other expellees formed the Reform Alliance, described as a "loose alliance" rather than a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. On 13 March 2015, Renua was launched, with Flanagan as one of its three sitting TDs and many other Reform Alliance members as declared election candidates. Later that day Flanagan represented the party in an interview on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's ''Drivetime'' radio news programme, where he was unable to answer any questions about the party's policies. Flanagan stood as a Renua candidate for the new Dublin Bay North constituency at the 2016 general election, but lost his seat, being eliminated at the 9th count. In April 2017, it was announced that he would rejoin Fine Gael. In November 2018, he was selected by local Fine Gael branches to be a candidate in the

Donaghmede Donaghmede () is a mixed socio-economic residential suburb on the northern side of Dublin, Ireland, formed from parts of Baldoyle, Coolock and Raheny in the 1970s. It contains a mid-size shopping centre and a ruined chapel. Location Donaghm ...

Local Electoral Area of

to contest the 2019 Local Elections. In April 2019, he was warned by Dublin City Council litter wardens for breach of regulations after putting up election posters in advance of the permitted day. He claimed he was at a disadvantage for having done so. He was also forced to apologise after his poster erections at 3 am alarmed an elderly woman. Flanagan was elected to Dublin City Council in the 2019 local elections, in the Donaghmede area. He failed to win re-election in the 2024 local elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Terence 1975 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Independent TDs Members of Dublin City Council Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Politicians from County Dublin Renua TDs Alumni of Dublin Business School People educated at Chanel College, Dublin