Joe Costello (politician)

Joe Costello
Minister of State
2011–2014Foreign Affairs and Trade
Teachta Dála
In office
May 2002 – February 2016
In office
November 1992 – June 1997
ConstituencyDublin Central
Senator
In office
17 September 1997 – 17 May 2002
In office
1 November 1989 – 25 November 1992
ConstituencyAdministrative Panel
Personal details
Born (1945-07-13) 13 July 1945 (age 79)
Geevagh, County Sligo, Ireland
Political partyLabour Party
Spouse
​
(m. 1994)​
Children2
RelativesMary Moran (sister-in-law)
EducationSummerhill College
Alma mater

Joseph Costello (born 13 July 1945) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who was a member of Dublin City Council from 2019 to 2023. He served as a Minister of State from 2011 to 2014. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2000 to 2016.

He also served as a member of the Dublin City Council from 1999 to 2002. He was a Senator for the Administrative Panel from 1989 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2002.[1] In July 2023, he announced his retirement from politics.[2]

Early life

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Costello was born in Geevagh, County Sligo and was educated at Summerhill College, Sligo, St Patrick's College, Maynooth and University College Dublin. He worked as a secondary school teacher before becoming a full-time public representative.[3]

Political career

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Costello's office in 2007

In 1985, along with Tony Gregory and Christy Burke, Costello was arrested for protesting alongside market traders against casual trading legislation that had been introduced; he spent a week in prison.[4]

He joined the Labour Party in 1985, and first stood for the party in the 1987 general election; contesting the Dublin Central constituency, he received 3.2% of the vote (1,305 votes) and was the final candidate eliminated in the constituency. In 1989 he was elected to the 19th Seanad as a Senator for the Administrative Panel.[5] He remained there until the 1992 general election when he was elected to Dáil Éireann. Costello lost his seat at the 1997 general election but was subsequently elected to the Seanad again. Costello was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2002 and 2007 general elections.[5]

He was a member of Dublin City Council from 1999 until the end of the dual mandate led to him passing the seat to his wife Emer Costello. He was re-elected to the council in 2019.

He was director of elections for Michael D. Higgins during the 2011 presidential election.[6]

On 20 December 2011, he was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour government as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade and Development, a position he served in until 15 July 2014.[7][6] He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014.[8] He was then appointed to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee.

At a Sinn Féin organised boxing charity fundraiser on 15 February 2014, Costello and his wife took a photo with gangland criminal Gerry Hutch. On 14 February 2016, 16 days before the 2016 general election (in which Costello was a candidate), the Irish Daily Mail published an article titled "Hypocrisy", calling Costello a hypocrite for condemning gang violence after the death of Edward Hutch (Gerry Hutch's brother) but being seen in a photograph with gang leaders. Costello responded: "...there were dozens of photographs taken. People were constantly coming in behind us into the photographs. I had no idea who was in that particular photo except myself, my wife and the lady in the front". Joan Burton, the then Tánaiste defended him and said "politicians do not know everyone they take photos with".[9] Costello then sued the Irish Daily Mail for defamation.[10] In May 2019, the case was settled and the Irish Daily Mail read out an apology to Costello and his wife in court.[10]

In October 2015 on the "Saturday with Claire Byrne" RTÉ radio show, Costello mistakenly referred to Nicky Kehoe (a one-time Provisional IRA member and the Sinn Féin director of elections) as the "IRA's former chief of staff in Dublin" but made sure not to name him. The producer of the radio show pressed the "talk back button" which is a button that alerts the presenter (Claire Byrne) to intervene. Byrne did not intervene and Sinn Féin member, Eoin Ó Broin began defending Kehoe, accidentally naming him. Costello then backed down on his claim about Kehoe's high-profile involvement in the IRA. Kehoe responded to the incident by suing RTÉ for defamation. In February 2018, the court proceedings began. The jury found RTÉ was 35% at fault and Costello was 65%. Kehoe was awarded €3,500. In 2020, Costello sued the state and RTÉ because he wasn't invited to the court proceedings effectively denying him the right to defend himself, breaching the European Convention on Human Rights.[11]

He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Central constituency at the 2020 general election.[12]

He was deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2021 to 2022. In July 2023, he announced his retirement from politics, Deborah Byrne was selected by the Labour party to replace him.[2][13]

Retirement

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In August 2023, after he had announced his retirement, he was invited by some locals to go to a meeting in Aughrim Street, Dublin about Ukrainian refugees being given help in the local sports hall. Around 300 people, some wearing masks marched up Prussia Street, blocking traffic. Costello continued talking despite the crowd being "intimidatory", until 20 of the masked group rushed him and one of them grabbed the microphone out of his hand, prompting the rest of the masked group to begin verbally abusing him. The gardaí at the event did not intervene and Costello had to leave. The following day another meeting was held but only 20 people showed up. Costello told The Irish Times that he worried about the right wing and anti-immigrant sentiment being allowed to build in certain communities.[4][14]

Personal life

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His wife Emer Costello is a former MEP for Dublin.

References

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  1. ^ "Joe Costello". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  2. ^ a b Finnerty, Mike (4 July 2023). "Veteran politician Joe Costello announces resignation". Dublin People. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Joe Costello TD – Biography". Labour Party website. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Labour Party veteran Joe Costello bows out of politics aged 78". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Joe Costello". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Jan O'Sullivan named 'super junior' minister". RTÉ News. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Appointment of Minister of State" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 2012 (3): 64. 10 January 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  9. ^ Newstalk. "Tánaiste defends Labour members seen in photos with Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch". Newstalk. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b O'Loughlin, Ann (17 May 2019). "Irish Mail on Sunday apologise as part of settlement with former Minister over article". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  11. ^ O’Loughlin, Ann (17 December 2021). "RTÉ fails to get Joe Costello damages claim over Nicky Kehoe defamation struck out". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Election 2020 | The Irish Times #ge2020 #ge20". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Selection conventions and candidates nominated so far". The Labour Party. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ^ O'Keeffe, Cormac (25 February 2023). "Councillor Joe Costello verbally abused while addressing anti-immigration protesters". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
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