Noel Grealish

Noel Grealish TD
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 June 2002
Constituency	Galway West
Leader of the Progressive Democrats (Interim)
In office 24 March 2009 – 20 November 2009
Preceded by	Ciarán Cannon
Succeeded by	Party disbanded in 2009
Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats
In office 25 May 2007 – 24 March 2009
Preceded by	Liz O'Donnell
Personal details
Born	16 December 1965 (1965-12-16) (age 45)
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Independent (Since 2009)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Democrats (1999–2009)

Noel Grealish (born 16 December 1965) is an Irish Independent politician and is currently a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency.^[1] He is from the Gaeltacht region of Carnmore, near Galway city. He was formerly a Progressive Democrats politician.

Grealish first contested an election in 1999, when he was elected to Galway County Council to represent the Oranmore electoral area with 1,357 first preferences. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election with 2,735 first preferences, succeeding long-serving TD Bobby Molloy.^[1]

He was re-elected at the 2007 general election with 5,806 first preferences.^[2] As one of only two Progressive Democrat TDs elected in 2007, he was appointed as Chairman of the Progressive Democrats parliamentary party in June 2007. Grealish was Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats from 25 May 2007 to the 24 March 2009 succeeding Liz O'Donnell in the position. Towards the end of 2007, Grealish stated that he had discussions with a senior Fianna Fáil politician about the possibility of him joining Fianna Fáil,^[3] but Grealish made the decision to stay with the Progressive Democrats.

Grealish assumed the leadership of the Progressive Democrats on 24 March 2009 following the decision of then leader Ciarán Cannon to stand aside and join Fine Gael. Grealish served as interim and final leader of the party until 20 November 2009, at which point the party disbanded.

He currently sits as an Independent TD in Dáil Éireann, and was re-elected as an Independent in the 2011 general election. He supported the FF/Green government in parliamentary votes from 2007 until September 2010, but on 24 September 2010 he announced that he was withdrawing his support for the government due to health cuts.^[4][5]

Along with Michael Healy Rae and Michael Lowry, he is not a member of the Dail Technical Group.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Mr. Noel Grealish". Oireachtas Members Database. http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=29&MemberID=1801&ConstID=108. Retrieved 7 February 2009. 
2. ^ "Noel Grealish". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=4809. Retrieved 7 February 2009. 
3. ^ Brian McDonald (6 November 2007). "PDs teeter on brink as Grealish holds talks with FF". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pds-teeter-on-brink-as-grealish-holds-talks-with-ff-1212743.html. Retrieved 10 January 2008. 
4. ^ "Noel Grealish withdraws support for Government". Irish Independent. 24 September 2010. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/noel-grealish-withdraws-support-for-government-2352076.html. 
5. ^ "Noel Grealish withdraws support for Govt". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 24 September 2010. http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0924/politics.html. 

Oireachtas
Preceded by Bobby Molloy (Progressive Democrats)	Progressive Democrats Teachta Dála for Galway West 2002–2009	Succeeded by Himself as Independent TD
Preceded by Himself as Progressive Democrats TD	Independent Teachta Dála for Galway West 2009–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Ciarán Cannon	Leader of the Progressive Democrats (Interim) 2009	Party disbanded in 2009

Persondata
Name	Grealish, Noel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 December 1965
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death