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Paul Nicholas Gogarty (born 20 December 1968) is an Irish former Green Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Mid–West constituency from 2002 to 2011.

Early and private life

Gogarty spent the first four years of his life in Palmerstown, but has mostly lived in Lucan. He was educated at St Mary's Boys National School and Colaiste Padraig, Lucan. He later went on to study journalism at the Dublin Institute of Technology. As a result of this, Gogarty worked as a journalist and editor before being elected to the Dáil in 2002.

Political career

Local politics

Gogarty joined the Green Party in 1989 as a student. He ran unsuccessfully at the 1991 local elections in the Castleknock area. Gogarty was first elected at the 1999 local elections in the Lucan local electoral area, topping the poll with 1,238 votes.

Dáil Éireann

Gogarty previously contested the 1992 and 1997 general elections in the Dublin West constituency. He also ran at the 1996 by-election caused by the death of Brian Lenihan, Snr. At the 2002 general election he was elected to the Dáil for the new Dublin Mid–West constituency. He was the first Green Party member to be elected in a three-seat constituency. After his election, Gogarty gave up his local council seat, in line with Green Party policy against dual-mandate and was succeeded by the late Fintan McCarthy. At the 2007 general election, he retained his Dáil seat, taking the second seat in the enlarged constituency.

Following the Green Party's entry to government in 2007, Gogarty was appointed chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science. In 2007, Gogarty unsuccessfully ran for the position of chair in the Green Party, losing to Dan Boyle. He was education Spokesperson of the Party from 2002 until 2011, developing the Party's "50 Steps to a Better Education System" but resigned for six months over an internal matter in 2009.

In 2002, 2003 and again in 2008, Paul Gogarty called for the pay of members of the Irish Parliament and Seanad to be cut. In November 2003 he described the decision to raise TDs pay by 13% during the Celtic Tiger era, compared with 6% for pensioners and social welfare recipients as a "urination" on the less well off in society.

On 3 August 2010, Gogarty wrote to the Clerk of the Seanad asking that newspaper claims alleging that Senator Ivor Callely had supplied phone expenses claims on headed paper belonging to a company which no longer existed be investigated. Gogarty appeared on the RTE Joe Duffy radio show discussing this issue. Following on from the interview and because he had been asked by a number of members of the public why he had not made a formal complaint to the Garda Siochana, Gogarty went into Lucan Garda station the next day and requested a full investigation, suggesting that Callely was either a victim of gross defamation or had been involved in fraud.

In November 2010, he brought his 18-month old daughter to a Green Party press conference in which his party's leader John Gormley announced the junior coalition party's intention to seek a general election early in 2011. The following day, many callers to Joe Duffy's Liveline radio show criticised his decision to bring his daughter to an important press conference. Gogarty defended his decision by saying that his regular childminder was not available when the press conference was called.

Gogarty's work in protecting educational investment during a period of cutbacks has been widely reported in the media, including a profile in The Irish Times in November 2010, which claimed that his contribution was recognised by admirers and detractors alike. Locally, he has played a role in preventing housing at St Edmundsbury, a sensitive area within the Liffey Valley.

2009 Swearing incident

On 11 December 2009, during his contribution to a debate in the Dáil on the Social Welfare bill of the 2010 budget, Gogarty said to Labour Party TD Emmet Stagg: "With all due respect, in the most unparliamentary language, fuck you Deputy Stagg. Fuck you." He immediately made a personal apology to the House for his use of unparliamentary language, which was criticised by Deputy Lucinda Creighton, who demanded he be suspended. The incident was referred to a sitting of the Dáil committee on procedure and privileges, when it emerged that "fuck" is not included among the list of forbidden words set out in the Salient Rulings of the Chair, the document which regulates the behaviour and conduct of TDs. Gogarty later clarified that the outburst was totally unintentional and not premeditated as some had suggested. He also said that the outburst had to be taken in the context of his contribution during the debate that day as well as a very turbulent and heated debate the previous night.

Loss of seat

Gogarty lost his seat at the 2011 general election, polling 3.47% of the poll and losing his right to reclaim election expenses. He conceded defeat at 10:22 a.m. on 26 February after posting on Twitter saying "I concede with good grace".

After politics

In June 2011 Gogarty spent four days filming at the "Charity ICA Bootcamp" in County Louth. The show was broadcast on RTÉ the following August. He raised €5,000 for Pieta House, a suicide prevention and awareness charity. From July to November 2011 Gogarty was involved in season 4 of the RTÉ television series Celebrity Bainisteoir managing Oughterard's Seamus Ó Máille GAA Club, Galway. Tony Cascarino's team beat him in the end, with extra-time being needed in the final for the first time in Celebrity Bainisteoir. Gogarty has done some work as a freelance journalist and advertises media services under the trading name of Neighbourhood Media.

In an interview with TheJournal.ie, Gogarty was reported to have claimed that he was considering changing parties to Fianna Fáil saying that "I haven’t finished with the Greens. I am very much green to the core, but in terms of getting political objectives achieved, I have not made up my mind with whether I will go back into politics, whether the Green Party has a chance to recover or whether we need a strong green element in some other organisation". Gogarty himself, in commenting on this piece clarified that he was asked to run for Fianna Fáil in Oughterard and said "I haven't ruled it out", but denied that this meant he was actively considering running for Fianna Fáil, as the headlines suggested. He also indicated that he was asked to join Fine Gael in 2002. In May 2012 he claimed he was "no longer a member at present" of the Green Party.

In August 2012, Gogarty released his debut single "Wishing On A Photograph" under the stage name of His Sweet Surprise. He is also understood to be recording an album.

References

1. "Mr. Paul Gogarty". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
2. "Profile of Paul Gogarty TD". Paul Gogarty's website. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
3. "1991 Local elections – Castleknock". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
4. "1999 Local elections – Lucan". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
5. "1992 General election – Dublin West". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
6. "1997 General election – Dublin West". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
7. "1996 By-election – Dublin West". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
8. "2002 General election – Dublin Mid–West". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
9. "Paul Gogarty". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
10. "Parliamentary Debates". Houses of the Oireachtas. 8 November 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
11. "Politicians' pay". The Irish Times. 11 November 2003.
12. "Garda Commissioner seeks Callely clarification". RTE News. 4 August 2010.
13. "Gogarty defends bringing baby to briefing". Irish Examiner. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
14. Bring them back.. (24 November 2010). "Green TD attacked for bringing baby to briefing". Independent.ie. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
15. "Green who often sees red". The Irish Times. 11 November 2010.
16. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLh-1wLIZ8
17. "Gogarty sorry for 'unparliamentary language'". RTÉ News. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
18. "Government TD in foul-mouthed outburst in Dáil". Irish Examiner. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
19. "Vol. 697 No. 5: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages". Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
20. "Irish lawmaker drops the F-bomb". Ryan Saylor. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
21. "Irish MP's 'F-word' sparks review". BBC News. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
22. "Vol. 697 No. 5 Personal Apology by Deputy". 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
23. "Changes expected to Dáil code after use of 'f-word'". The Irish Times. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEeKkSv7N0w
25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9b6VvBpMrc
26. "Election Count - Saturday". RTÉ News. 26 February 2011.
27. O'Brien, Ciara (26 February 2011). "Green TD Paul Gogarty concedes". The Irish Times.
28. http://gogsyi.com/2011/09/07/charity-ica-bootcamp-loads-of-fun-but-a-drop-in-the-ocean-for-pieta-house/
29. "RTÉ's Celebrity Bainisteoirs announced". RTÉ. 15 July 2011.
30. "Cascarino wins Celebrity Bainisteoir". RTÉ Ten. 7 November 2011.
31. "Paul Gogarty: I'm considering joining Fianna Fáil". . 23 February 2012. {{cite news}}: External link in |work= (help)
32. "What I am up to in 2012 (updated 9 May 2012)". paulgogarty.com. 9 May 2012.
33. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0831/breaking13.html
34. http://www.soundcloud.com/hissweetsurprise/sets/tracks

External links

• Paul Gogarty's official website
• Paul Gogarty's official blog

Template:Persondata

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• Living people
• Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology
• Celebrity Bainisteoir
• Green Party (Ireland) politicians
• Members of the 29th Dáil
• Members of the 30th Dáil
• Local councillors in South Dublin (county)
• Participants in Irish reality television series
• People from County Westmeath
• People from County Dublin
• Teachtaí Dála