Séamus Healy | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Healy in 2024 | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office November 2024 | |
| In office February 2011 – February 2016 | |
| In office June 2000 – May 2007 | |
| Constituency | Tipperary South |
| In office February 2016 – February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Tipperary |
| South Tipperary County Councillor | |
| In office 2007–2011 | |
| In office 1991–2004 | |
| Constituency | Clonmel |
| Clonmel Borough Councillor | |
| In office 1985–2004 | |
| Constituency | Clonmel Borough |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1950-08-09)9 August 1950 (age 75) Waterford, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Workers and Unemployed Action |
Séamus Healy (born 9 August 1950) is an Irishindependent politician who has been aTeachta Dála (TD) for theTipperary South constituency intermittently since a2000 by-election[1] Healy was most recently elected at the2024 general election.[2]
He is part of the Clonmel-basedWorkers and Unemployed Action (WUA) which had a number of local representatives onSouth Tipperary County Council andClonmel Borough Council. He is a former member of theLeague for a Workers Republic.[3]
Having worked as Hospital Administrator for South Tipperary Acute Hospital Services from 1978 to 1999, Healy was first elected to Clonmel Borough Council in1985.[3][4] He was elected to the28th Dáil at aby-election on 22 June 2000. He was re-elected at the2002 general election, but lost his seat at the2007 general election toMartin Mansergh ofFianna Fáil.[5][6] After losing his Dáil seat, he returned to serve as aSouth Tipperary County Councillor for the Clonmel local electoral area, being co-opted for Pat English, after which he was appointed to various committees such as the localVocational Education Committee, promotion of the Irish language and various water supply committees.
Healy was re-elected to South Tipperary County Council at the2009 local elections.[5]
He won back his seat at the2011 general election with 21.3 per cent of the first preference vote and served on theOireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children.[7][8][9]
On 15 December 2011, he helped launch a nationwide campaign against the household charge being brought in as part of the2012 Irish budget.[10]
He stood for re-election to the new Tipperary constituency as an Independent in the2016 general election, and was elected on the seventh count.[11] He voted for bothGerry Adams andRichard Boyd Barrett forTaoiseach when the32nd Dáil first met.[12]
Healy's brother Paddy Healy served as president of theTeachers' Union of Ireland and ran unsuccessfully in theSeanad elections in 2007 and 2011 for theNUI panel, and in the 1980s ran in theDublin North-East constituency as anAnti H-Block candidate.[13] He worked as a voluntary researcher for Seamus.
He lost his seat at the2020 general election. Following his defeat, Healy said: “I’ve been here before. I’ve been an activist all my life. I lost in 2007 by 59 votes. I will continue to be an activist. Life is like that: you win some, you lost some. You pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and keep going.”[14]
In September 2023, Healy confirmed that he would be running in the2024 general election for Tipperary South, following boundary changes that split Tipperary back into two constituencies. He stated that the unification of south and north Tipperary into a single Dáil constituency and local authority had been disastrous for south Tipperary, which he believed was playing "second fiddle" tonorth Tipperary.[15]
At the2024 general election, Healy was elected to the Dáil with 9,601 votes.[16] Aged 74, he was one of the oldest candidates in the general election, and is one of the oldest TDs elected to the Dáil.[17] Healy's first speech in the34th Dáil focused on the "housing andhomelessness crisis" which he stated is the "most fundamental issue facing this country". He announced his intention to reintroduce his Housing Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill.[18]
| Elections to theDáil | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Election | FPv | FPv% | Result | ||
| Independent | Tipperary South | 1987 | 1,457 | 3.5 | Eliminated on count 2/8 | |
| Tipperary South | 1989 | 2,859 | 7.3 | Eliminated on count 2/5 | ||
| Tipperary South | 1992 | 4,023 | 10.1 | Eliminated on count 5/5 | ||
| Tipperary South | 1997 | 5,814 | 16.5 | Eliminated on count 5/5 | ||
| Tipperary South | 2000 by-election | 9,419 | 30.8 | Elected on count 3/3 | ||
| Tipperary South | 2002 | 7,350 | 20.1 | Elected on count 3/3 | ||
| Tipperary South | 2007 | 5,707 | 14.7 | Eliminated on count 8/8 | ||
| WUA | Tipperary South | 2011 | 8,818 | 21.3 | Elected on count 3/5 | |
| Independent | Tipperary | 2016 | 7,452 | 9.6 | Elected on count 7/7 | |
| Tipperary | 2020 | 5,829 | 7.1 | Eliminated on count 7/9 | ||
| Tipperary South | 2024 | 4,795 | 11.7 | Elected on count 6/6 | ||
| Elections toSouth Tipperary County Council andTipperary County Council | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Election | FPv | FPv% | Result | ||
| WUA | Clonmel LEA | 1985 | 535 | 7.0 | Eliminated on count 4/5 | |
| Clonmel LEA | 1991 | 1,582 | 21.0 | Elected on count 1/8 | ||
| Clonmel LEA | 1999 | 1,525 | 17.7 | Elected on count 1/13 | ||
| Clonmel LEA | 2009 | 2,336 | 21.8 | Elected on count 1/11 | ||