Arthur Morgan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 2002 – February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Louth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-07-23)23 July 1954 (age 71) Omeath,County Louth, Ireland |
| Party | Sinn Féin |
Arthur Morgan (born 23 July 1954) is an Irish formerSinn Féin politician who served as aTeachta Dála (TD) for theLouth constituency from 2002 to 2011.[1]
Morgan was born inOmeath inCounty Louth. Educated locally, he joined the small family fish-processing company, where he became a director.[2] He is a founding member of Cooley Environmental and Health Action Committee which campaigns againstSellafield nuclear power station.
Morgan is a formerProvisional Irish Republican Army prisoner. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail after being arrested on a boat onCarlingford Lough during an operation in 1977.[3] He served seven and a half years atLong Kesh prison, where he participated in theblanket protest, before being released in 1984.[2]
He was an unsuccessful Dáil candidate at the1987 and1989 general elections.[4] At the1999 European Parliament election Morgan polled over 20,000 votes in theLeinster constituency but failed to be elected. He was elected toLouth County Council on the same day for theDundalk-Carlingford local electoral area. At the2002 general election, he was elected toDáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin TD and retained his seat at the2007 general election.[4]
In a Dáil debate on the budget on 6 March 2008, Morgan launched a strong attack on the government's economic policy, saying that "There is more social conscience in a cat's arse than there is in the entire Fianna Fáil parliamentary party." Condemning a Government proposal to give tax breaks for the development of private hospices, he asked "Why would I expect any different from a Tánaiste and a Government over this partial Parliament in this little semi-statelet over which he is presiding?".[5][6] DeputyMichael Finneran responded by saying that "if it was not for him and his fellow travellers we would have had considerably more money to invest in many projects over the years instead of needing to spend it on security to protect the State."[5][6]
For several years Morgan was a key figure in the Dundalk Hospital Action Services Committee campaigning for the retention of acute services at Louth County Hospital, Dundalk.
On 9 November 2010, he announced that he would not be contesting the2011 general election.[7]