Seán Kelly (Irish politician)

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Seán Kelly
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2009
ConstituencySouth
Leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 May 2014
Personal details
Born (1952-04-26) 26 April 1952 (age 72)
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
Political party
Spouse
Juliette Kelly
​
(m. 1987)​
Children4
EducationSt Brendan's College, Killarney
Alma mater
Websiteseankelly.eu

Seán Kelly (born 26 April 1952) is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2009. He is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party.[1]

He served as the 34th President of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 2003 to 2006. He was the first person from County Kerry to hold the office, being elected at his first attempt by a record margin at the GAA Congress in 2002. In July 2006, he took up the position of Executive Chairman of the Irish Institute of Sport, a body that was set up in Ireland to support elite athletes and players, and served as Executive President until he announced his resignation in July 2008.[2]

Early and personal life

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Kelly was born in Knockataggle, Kilcummin, Killarney, County Kerry in 1952. He was born into a family that was deeply involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association. His grandfather had been chairman of the local club and his four uncles had distinguished playing careers, with his uncle, also Seán Kelly, starring at full-forward for Kerry in their All-Ireland Championship success over Armagh in 1953. He is a first cousin to Fionnuala O'Kelly, wife of former Taoiseach Enda Kenny.[3]

Kelly was educated at Kilcummin National School, Tralee CBS and St Brendan's College, Killarney. He qualified as a primary school teacher in St Patrick's College of Education, Drumcondra and then attended University College Dublin where he received a BA in 1974 and Higher Diploma in Education (HDip) in 1975. He worked as a teacher in Dublin (Cromcastle Green, Kilmore West) and in St. Brendan's, Killarney.[citation needed]

GAA career

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Before being elected president of the GAA he served as chairman of the East Kerry from 1975 to 1987 and County Kerry Boards from 1987 to 1997 and Munster Council from 1997 to 2000. He also was one of the founding members of the St Patrick's (East Kerry) hurling team in 1984. As county chairman, he founded the Kerry GAA Supporters' Club in 1987.[4]

As the first person from County Kerry to hold the office of President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, his presidency is seen as a landmark one in moving forward the Association on so many fronts with the introduction of Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup, Tommy Murphy Cup, All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate Championships, he also oversaw the completion of the Croke Park re-development through the completion of Hill 16/Northern end and the building of the Croke Park Jury's Hotel. He introduced the President's Awards and developed a great working relationship with the GPA and initiated major improvements in player welfare matters.

Concluding his career in the GAA he published an autobiography in 2007, titled "Rule 42 and all that".[5]

He is also credited with the successful conclusion of arrangements for the use of Croke Park, the GAA's 82,500 capacity national stadium, by the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Football Association of Ireland while Lansdowne Road was being re-developed.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Dublin Institute of Technology in February 2007.

Political career

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Kelly's offices in Clonmel, County Tipperary

Seán Kelly was elected as a Fine Gael candidate at the 2009 European Parliament election for the South constituency, at the expense of sitting MEP and party colleague Colm Burke.[6] Kelly is a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. He is a member of the delegation for relations with South Africa and he serves as a member of the Delegation for relations with the Countries of South East Asia and ASEAN.[7]

Kelly was elected MEP of the Year for Research and Innovation by fellow MEPs for his work on the European Parliament's ITRE Committee in 2012.[8]

Kelly is a recipient of IAB Europe's Award for Leadership and Excellence in Public Policy for his work on data protection.[9]

He had been mentioned as a possible Fine Gael candidate for the 2011 presidential election.[3][10] He was re-elected as an MEP for the South constituency at the 2014 European Parliament election.

Kelly has lobbied to end the bi-annual clock change in the EU,[11] but is in favour of Ireland's adoption of year-round summertime or Central European Time instead of its present, closer to solar time, Western European Time,[12] which is precisely the most detrimental time arrangement to human health according to recent chronobiological studies.[13]

In December 2020, Kelly received the Industry, Research & Innovation award at The Parliament Magazine's annual MEP Awards.[14]

Kelly is known for his frequent use of the Irish Language in the European Parliament. In January 2022, he submitted the first amendment to EU legislation that was written in the Irish Language.[15]

Kelly ran for re-election at the 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland with running mate John Mullins.[16] Kelly was re-elected on the first count, topping the poll with 122,777 (17.8%) first preference votes .[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Seán Kelly". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Kelly steps down from role with Irish Institute of Sport". Irish Examiner. 30 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  3. ^ a b Minihan, Mary (15 March 2011). "Labour to choose between Higgins and Finlay as presidential candidate". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Can Cork GAA afford not to have its own supporters' club?". The Southern Star. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  5. ^ Kelly, Sean (August 2007). Rule 42 and all that. Hume Avenue, Park West, Dublin 12: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-4183-8. Retrieved 30 April 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. ^ "FG's Sean Kelly takes second seat in Ireland South". Irish Independent. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  7. ^ "My Policy Work". Seán Kelly. 3 January 2021. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "IAB Europe awards MEP Sean Kelly for standing up for data privacy rights (Video) - Ireland's CIO and strategy news and reports service – Siliconrepublic.com". Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  10. ^ Sheahan, Fionnan (10 September 2010). "Race to succeed McAleese will be no stroll in the park". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  11. ^ ""High time to end bi-annual clock change" – MEP Kelly". 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Keep summer time year round: MEP Kelly". 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Permanent Daylight Saving Time will hurt our health, experts say". 6 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  14. ^ Johnson, Brian (2 December 2020). "MEP Awards 2020: Reaction and comment from our winners". The Parliament Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  15. ^ Ó Caollaí, Éanna (27 January 2022). "First amendment 'as Gaeilge' proposed for EU legislation". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  16. ^ Ryan, Órla (10 March 2024). "Seán Kelly and John Mullins, former Bord Gáis CEO, to run for Fine Gael in European elections". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Fine Gael's Kelly takes first MEP seat in Ireland South". RTÉ News. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
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Gaelic games
Preceded by President of the Gaelic Athletic Association
2003–2006 		Succeeded by
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