Noel Grealish
Encyclopedia
Noel Grealish is an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 politician and is currently a Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for the Galway West constituency. He is from the Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...

 region of Carnmore
Carnmore
Carnmore is located at the southern end of the parish of Claregalway, approximately east of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland. Carnmore lies within the Gaeltacht although the vast majority of residents there use English as their first language...

, near Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

 city. He was formerly a Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...

 politician.

Grealish first contested an election in 1999, when he was elected to Galway County Council
Galway County Council
Galway County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Galway in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county seat is at Galway County Hall in Galway...

 to represent the Oranmore
Oranmore
Oranmore is a village in County Galway on the outskirts of Galway city in Ireland. With its major housing developments, Oranmore is rapidly becoming a part of Galway's commuter or suburban belt...

 electoral area with 1,357 first preferences. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 at the 2002 general election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...

 with 2,735 first preferences, succeeding long-serving TD Bobby Molloy
Bobby Molloy
Robert "Bobby" Molloy is an Irish former Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats politician, who served in a wide number of Cabinet poistions, most notably as Minister for Local Government, Minister for Defence and Minister for Energy....

.

He was re-elected at the 2007 general election with 5,806 first preferences. As one of only two Progressive Democrat TDs elected in 2007, he was appointed as Chairman of the Progressive Democrats parliamentary party in June 2007. Grealish was Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats from 25 May 2007 to the 24 March 2009 succeeding Liz O'Donnell
Liz O'Donnell
Liz O'Donnell is a former Irish Progressive Democrats politician. She was the Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats, and represented Dublin South as a Teachta Dála from 1992 to 2007....

 in the position. Towards the end of 2007, Grealish stated that he had discussions with a senior Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 politician about the possibility of him joining Fianna Fáil, but Grealish made the decision to stay with the Progressive Democrats.

Grealish assumed the leadership of the Progressive Democrats on 24 March 2009 following the decision of then leader Ciarán Cannon
Ciarán Cannon
Ciarán Cannon is an Irish politician and the current Minister of State for Training and Skills. He is a Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Galway East since the 2011 general election. He is a former leader of the Progressive Democrats party.Before entering politics he was CEO and secretary of IHCPT –...

 to stand aside and join Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

. Grealish served as interim and final leader of the party until 20 November 2009, at which point the party disbanded.

He currently sits as an Independent TD in Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

, and was re-elected as an Independent in the 2011 general election. He supported the FF/Green government in parliamentary votes from 2007 until September 2010, but on 24 September 2010 he announced that he was withdrawing his support for the government due to health cuts.

Along with Michael Healy Rae and Michael Lowry
Michael Lowry
Michael Lowry is an Irish politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary North constituency and continues to enjoy high popularity in his constituency despite being the subject of a criminal investigation resulting from various scandals while in office.-Local government and...

, he is not a member of the Dail Technical Group
Technical Group
In Irish politics, a technical group is a parliamentary group of Teachtaí Dála who associate to increase their speaking rights in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas.-Origin and policy:...

.
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