Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 134.226.254.162 (talk) at 15:41, 3 August 2012. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Paul Nicholas Gogarty (born 20 December 1968) is a former Irish Green Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Mid–West constituency from 2002 to 2011. He currently works freelance as a media commentator and journalist and is understood to be recording songs for upcoming album or single release.

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 previosuly 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.

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, where his contribution was recognised by admirers and detractors alike. Locally, he has played a key role in preventing housing at St Edmundsbury, a sensitive area within the Liffey Valley

Controversies

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.

"Babygate" controversy

Gogarty hit headlines again in November 2010, as he brought his 18-month old daughter Daisy 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 (the girl's grandmother) was not available when the press conference was called. In national print media, photographs appeared of Gogarty pushing his daughter's buggy through the portico of Leinster House and subsequently holding the child on his lap in the press conference.

Loss of seat

Gogarty lost his seat at the 2011 general election, polling 3.47% of the poll and losing his deposit. 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 works as a freelance journalist and advertises media services under the trading name of Neighbourhood Media. He has written articles for the Sunday Times and the Irish Independent. He has also appeared as a contributor on RTE's John Murray Show and the Newstalk Breakfast Show. He writes an occasional personal blog "Gogsy's Roving i".

In a recent interview Gogarty 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".

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. "Green who often sees red". The Irish Times. 11 November 2010.
12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLh-1wLIZ8
13. "Gogarty sorry for 'unparliamentary language'". RTÉ News. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
14. "Government TD in foul-mouthed outburst in Dáil". Irish Examiner. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
15. "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.
16. "Irish lawmaker drops the F-bomb". Ryan Saylor. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
17. "Irish MP's 'F-word' sparks review". BBC News. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
18. "Vol. 697 No. 5 Personal Apology by Deputy". 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
19. "Changes expected to Dáil code after use of 'f-word'". The Irish Times. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEeKkSv7N0w
21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLh-1wLIZ8
22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9b6VvBpMrc
23. "Gogarty defends bringing baby to briefing". Irish Examiner. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
24. Bring them back.. "Green TD attacked for bringing baby to briefing". Independent.ie. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
25. "Election Count - Saturday". RTÉ News. 26 February 2011.
26. O'Brien, Ciara (26 February 2011). "Green TD Paul Gogarty concedes". The Irish Times.
27. http://gogsyi.com/2011/09/07/charity-ica-bootcamp-loads-of-fun-but-a-drop-in-the-ocean-for-pieta-house/
28. "RTÉ's Celebrity Bainisteoirs announced". RTÉ. 15 July 2011.
29. "Cascarino wins Celebrity Bainisteoir". RTÉ Ten. 7 November 2011.
30. "Friday 21st October presented by Kathryn Thomas". RTÉ News.
31. http://www.gogsyi.com
32. "Paul Gogarty: I'm considering joining Fianna Fáil". . 23 Febraury 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |work= (help)

External links

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

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from February 2012
• 1968 births
• 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