Vincent Peter Martin (born 1968) is an Irish

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from June 2020 to January 2025, after being

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 ...

Early life

Martin was born in

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

in 1968, but is a native of

Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The population was 5,745 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle buil ...

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 ...

. The "P" in his name is a reference not only to his middle name (Peter) but to his grand-uncle, Vincent "Pepper" Martin, a

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

-based professional boxer who once made an appearance on the front cover of ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

'', a well-known sports magazine. His sister, Catherine Martin, is the former deputy leader of the Green Party, whom Vincent recruited in. Previous to politics, Martin was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

by profession. He is married to Hilda Cummins, and they have two children, a son and a daughter.

Political career

Martin began his political career in 1999 as a member of Carrickmacross Town Council. He was an independent candidate at the 2002 general election for the

Cavan–Monaghan Cavan Monaghan (known as Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan until 2007) is a township in Peterborough County in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of the city of Peterborough. History The original townships of Cavan and Monaghan were surve ...

constituency. He received 1,943 (3.1%) first preference votes but was not elected. He later became a

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 ...

lor in 2004 as an independent member, however, previous to this some sources have stated he was a member of

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 ...

. He lost his seat on Monaghan County Council in 2009. He served in local politics for 10 years and he was noted as one of the few representatives at that time who advocated for

Environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

and stood firm on decisions about planning permission. In 2006, this prompted then Green Party leader

John Gormley John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...

to recruit Martin into the Green Party. He was a Green Party candidate at the 2007 general election for Cavan–Monaghan, receiving 2,382 (3.6%) first preference votes, but again was not elected. In 2009, Martin stepped away from local politics to concentrate on being a barrister and to spend time with his new wife. He was expected to name fellow local Green Party member Darcy Lonergan as his replacement, but as Longeran was away studying in the

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, Vincent instead co-opted his sister Catherine into the position. Catherine vacated her seat upon the death of the Martins' mother and co-opted it to the returning Lonergan. Martin remained out of politics for a decade. In that time he moved to

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. In 2019, he returned to politics, topping the poll in the Naas local electoral area at the 2019 local elections. At the 2020 general election, he ran as a Green Party candidate in Kildare North, but was not elected. In June 2020, when the Green Party entered into government, Martin was

to the Seanad. He was one of only two men among the 11 nominees.

Legal issues

On 9 February 2016, Martin drove his car through a red light at a

pedestrian crossing A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...

Dundrum, Dublin Dundrum (), originally a village in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the List of Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centre, the la ...

, striking a pram containing a baby; the child was thrown out of the pram onto the road but was not injured. The child's mother, Slovak-born Jana Novakova, suffered injuries to her right arm and shoulder, as well as

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

. She sued for damages; the case was settled in the High Court in 2022.

References

External links

Vincent P. Martin's page on the Green Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Vincent P. 1968 births Living people Fianna Fáil politicians Green Party (Ireland) senators Members of Kildare County Council Martin family (Green Party) Members of the 26th Seanad People from Carrickmacross Nominated members of Seanad Éireann People educated at St Macartan's College, Monaghan Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Maynooth University Politicians from County Cavan Politicians from County Monaghan Irish barristers 21st-century Irish lawyers Lawyers from County Monaghan Lawyers from County Cavan Green Party (Ireland) candidates in Dáil elections Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Green Party (Ireland) local councillors Members of Monaghan County Council Alumni of King's Inns