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Gary Gannon

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Gary Gannon
TD
Gannon in 2017
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2020
ConstituencyDublin Central
Personal details
Born (1987-02-18) 18 February 1987 (age 37)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partySocial Democrats
Alma materTrinity College Dublin

Gary Gannon (born 18 February 1987) is an Irish Social Democrats politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency since the 2020 general election.[1]

He served as a Dublin City Councillor from 2014 to 2020.[2]

Background

Gannon was born in Dublin's North Inner City, raised in Portland Place and now lives in Glasnevin.[3] The son of a street trader, he left school to train as a plumber.[4] He later studied history and politics at Trinity College Dublin.[5][6]

Political career

Gannon was involved with Tony Gregory's political group and canvassed for Maureen O'Sullivan in the 2011 general election, before deciding to run against them in 2014 amidst a row over candidate selection.[3] He was elected to Dublin City Council in 2014 for the North Inner City local electoral area as an independent candidate.[7]

In September 2015, he joined the newly formed Social Democrats. Gannon was one of five general election candidates put forward by the Social Democrats to contest the 2016 general election.[8] He ran in the Dublin Central constituency, losing out narrowly on a seat to Maureen O'Sullivan.[9]

In May 2019, Gannon contested the 2019 European Parliament elections in the Dublin constituency. He was not elected.[10] On the same day he was elected to Dublin City Council for the Cabra-Glasnevin local electoral area.

Gannon again stood as the Social Democrats candidate in the Dublin Central constituency at the 2020 general election and won a seat on the 9th count.[11]

As a TD Gannon has spoken on issues relating to access to education,[12] and on how the lack of access to education can play into poverty and gang violence.[13] He has also spoken about the Magdalene laundries and the need to preserve the historical significance of the sites.[14][15]

In May 2021 Gannon called upon Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney to expel the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland following the outbreak of the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.[16]

In August 2021, following the Katherine Zappone controversy, Gannon wrote to the chair of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee Charles Flanagan to demand that the committee investigate Zappone's appointment as a special envoy to the UN.[17]

In November 2021 Gannon introduced a Bill to the Dáil which sought to “ensure that every single student and school that receives State funding will receive the same fact-based health, relationship and sex education regardless of their school's ethos”, rather than sex education being dictated by religious values. Minister for Education Norma Foley did not oppose the Bill but called for a nine-month delay on its introduction in order to give time to schools to update their curriculums.[18]

In June 2022 Gannon was ordered to repay over €1,000 in expenses after recording the lowest attendance of any TD in the Dáil in 2021. TDs must attend a minimum of 120 days to avail of the Oireachtas travel and accommodation allowance, with Gannon having attended 109 days.[19]

Following the November 2023 Dublin stabbing attack and riot which occurred in his constituency, Gannon called for both Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to resign from their offices as Gannon felt their positions were "untenable".[20]

Political positions

Gannon (first from right) campaigning with Sinn Fein, Labour and Social Democrats politicians for safe access zones around abortion clinics in 2021

Gannon has called for the Leaving Certificate to be radically reformed, decrying the current system as a “glorified memory test”, which “can be easily manipulated depending on your income”,[21] while supporting a version that incorporates continuous assessment. Gannon supports the scrapping of Student Contributions to Universities in favour of a system of covering third level education costs through taxation.[21]

In August 2021 Gannon called for harsher sentencing for those found guilty of committing assault with a deadly weapon.[22]

It was also in August 2021 that Gannon stated he supports harsher sanctions by the European Union on Belarus in order to pressure Alexander Lukashenko, whom Gannon labelled a "tyrant". Gannon has spoken in support of political prisoners jailed under Lukashenko.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Gary Gannon". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Gary Gannon - MacGill Summer School". MacGill Summer School. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Gary Gannon". The Phoenix Magazine. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  4. ^ "'You grow up in a flat complex in Summerhill and you think the State is out to get you'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  5. ^ "'I was the only one judging people'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Cllr. Gary Gannon". socialdemocrats.ie. Social Democrats. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  7. ^ "The Irish Times, Local Election Results for Dublin City Council". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Social Democrats name five general election hopefuls". Irish Examiner. 6 September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Dublin Central results: Maureen O'Sullivan retains seat in tight contest". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Social Democrats' Gary Gannon takes final seat in Dublin Central battleground". thejournal.ie. The Journal. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020. Gannon [..] unsuccessfully ran in the European elections last year, receiving just more than 5% of first preference votes
  11. ^ Bray, Jennifer (10 February 2020). "Dublin Central results: McDonald tops poll, Donohoe elected on final count". Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  12. ^ "At Lunch With… Councillor Gary Gannon". Dublin Inquirer. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  13. ^ "Hutch-Kinahan feud may end but the cycle of violence will not". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  14. ^ Gannon, Gary. "Magdalene memorial: 'I grew up in the shadow of that laundry'". Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  15. ^ O'Loughlin, Ed (21 March 2018). "A Blot on Ireland's Past, Facing Demolition". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Time to expel the Israeli Ambassador". 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  17. ^ Moore, Aoife (19 August 2021). "Coveney to be grilled on 'calamitous' Zappone appointment to UN role". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  18. ^ O'Halloran, Marie (24 November 2021). "TD says 'urgent need' for all children to be 'informed by science, not religion'". Irish Times. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  19. ^ "TD forced to pay back €1,000 expenses due to poor attendance". www.independent.ie. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  20. ^ Power, Jack (24 November 2023). "Dublin riots brought 'shame on Ireland', says Varadkar, as some inner city schools close early on Garda advice". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  21. ^ a b Fogarty, Sárán (4 February 2021). "Current Leaving Cert Model Locks in Privilege, Says Gannon". Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  22. ^ Wall, Eva (4 February 2021). "Dublin politicians condemn knife crime in capital following tragic death of woman". Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  23. ^ Cunningham, Paul (15 July 2021). "Oireachtas members sponsor political prisoners in Belarus". RTE News. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
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