Alan Kelly (politician)

Alan Kelly TD
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 July 2014
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	Phil Hogan
Deputy leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 July 2014
Leader	Joan Burton
Preceded by	Joan Burton
Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport
In office 10 March 2011 – 11 July 2014
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office February 2016
Constituency	Tipperary
Teachta Dála
In office February 2011 – February 2016
Constituency	Tipperary North
Member of the European Parliament
In office 8 June 2009 – 9 March 2011
Constituency	South
Senator
In office 24 July 2007 – 8 June 2009
Constituency	Agricultural Panel
Personal details
Born	13 July 1975 Portroe, Tipperary, Ireland
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Regina O'Connor
Children	2
Alma mater	University College Cork University College Dublin
Website	Official website

Alan Kelly (born 13 July 1975) is an Irish Labour Party politician and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. He is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Tipperary North having been elected at the 2011 general election.^[1] He is a former Senator and Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Early and private life

Kelly is from Portroe just outside Nenagh, County Tipperary, and is the son of Tom and Nan Kelly. Educated at Nenagh CBS, he subsequently attended University College Cork (UCC) where he completed a BA in English and History in 1995. Two years later he completed a M.Phil in Political History. Kelly continued his education at Boston College where he achieved a Certificate in Leadership in 1999. He returned to Ireland shortly after this and completed a MBS in eCommerce in 2002. Kelly subsequently worked as an eBusiness Manager with Bord Fáilte and Fáilte Ireland.

Kelly is married to Regina O'Connor, a primary school teacher who was raised in Waterville, County Kerry. The couple have two children; a daughter and a son.

Kelly's brother Declan has been described as "the go-to man for several taoisigh down through the years who saw fit to seek out his guidance."^[2] When Alan Kelly, while in political office, announced some new jobs for Nenagh, they were provided by First Data, a client of his brother's firm Teneo.^[3]

Youth politics

Kelly was highly politicised from an early age. In his final year of secondary school he canvassed for the Labour Party during the 1992 general election. He remained active in left-wing politics in university, firstly by establishing the Jim Kemmy Branch of the Labour Party in UCC and later by becoming involved in a number of by-election and local election campaigns in Cork and the wider Munster area.

Kelly became Chair of Labour Youth in 2000, having previously served as Co-Chair.

Seanad Éireann (2007–09)

In 2007, Kelly launched his own political career when he secured election to Seanad Éireann for the Agricultural Panel. He was the only Labour Party candidate in that grouping.^[4] After the election of Eamon Gilmore as leader of the Labour Party in 2007, Kelly was appointed as Labour Party spokesperson on Tourism and was Seanad spokesperson on Finance and Local Government.

European Parliament (2009–11)

Kelly was elected as a MEP for the South constituency at the 2009 European Parliament election, taking the last seat in a tight battle between him, Sinn Féin's Toireasa Ferris and the Independent Kathy Sinnott.^[5][6] Kelly was a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

Dáil Éireann (2011–present)

Though he promised he would see out his five-year term in the European Parliament, Kelly allowed his name go forward as a Labour Party candidate at the 2011 general election. He ran in the Tipperary North constituency and was successful, receiving 9,559 first preference votes (19.8%) and securing the third and final seat at the expense of Fianna Fáil's sitting TD, Máire Hoctor. Phil Prendergast replaced him as MEP for the South constituency.

When the new coalition government was formed Kelly joined the junior ministerial ranks as Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport.^[7]

In May 2014, Kelly confirmed that he would be contesting the vote for a new deputy leader of the Labour party following the resignation of Eamon Gilmore as party leader.^[8]

He was elected as Deputy leader of the Labour Party on 4 July 2014.^[9] On July 11, he was appointed to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.^[10] He is known within Labour as AK-47, a fact referred to by Joe Higgins in his final contribution to the 31st Dáil when he told Enda Kenny: "On his way to the Park, in case the Taoiseach meets an anti-water charges protest, can I suggest he takes his AK-47 for protection?".^[11][12] Village ranked the negativity of Alan Kelly's legacy in the Environment portfolio as similar to those of his predecessors Phil Hogan, Martin Cullen and James Tully for the title of worst ever.^[13]

Kelly introduced the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2015, expanding the powers Ireland's environment minister would have over local councils. This became law on 29 December, shortly before the 2016 general election.^[14] He also oversaw the introduction of new pay-by-weight bin charges, announced on 1 February 2016 and effective from July.^[15]

On Sunday 24 April 2016, Kelly represented the Government at the official U.S. commemoration of the Centenary of the Easter Rising in Manhattan, New York.^[16]

Before leaving office as environment minister in May 2016, he established a new quango called the Local Authorities Water and Communities Office (LAWCO) in Clonmel.^[17]

Criticism

Ahead of the 2016 general election, Kelly gave a controversial interview to the Sunday Independent, describing power as "Obviously a drug. It's attractive. It's something you thrive on. It suits some people. It doesn’t suit others. I think it suits me."^[18] In response to criticism of this he said he "regretted saying it" but did not say whether his opinion had changed.^[2] In the same Sunday Independent interview his remarks on his relationship with his party leader Joan Burton also drew notice: "But you have a boss", Kelly told the reporter. "That's not the way we see our relationship. I mean she is the leader of the party and that's a very privileged and great position to be in and I really respect her for that. [...] Ah sure, in politics you are your own boss really."^[2][19]

References

1. "Mr. Alan Kelly". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
2. Horan, Niamh (31 January 2016). "Alan Kelly: 'Power is a drug . . . it suits me' - Labour's Alan Kelly says he is his own boss and speaks about his ‘ruthless’ ambition to get to the top". Sunday Independent.
3. Paul, Mark (22 January 2016). "Kelly revs up his ego over jobs: Minister for Environment could teach Italians a thing or two about braggadocio". The Irish Times.
4. "Alan Kelly". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
5. Riegel, Ralph (9 June 2009). "Labour's Kelly fights off late Sinnott surge". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009.
6. "Alan Kelly". European Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
7. "Kenny breaks election pledge by not cutting junior ministers". Irish Examiner. 11 March 2011.
8. O'Connor, Niall (29 May 2014). "Three Labour TDs have said they are interested in being the deputy leader of the party". Irish Independent.
9. "Need to govern with more heart, says Joan Burton". RTÉ News. 4 July 2014.
10. "Live: Cabinet reshuffle". RTÉ News. 11 July 2014.
11. "Order of Business". 2 February 2016.
12. "Higgins takes aim at Taoiseach and 'AK47'". RTÉ News. 2 February 2016.
13. "Labour’s weapon: Alan Kelly profiled". Village. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016.
14. "Councillors criticise new planning powers for minister". RTÉ News. 22 February 2016.
15. "Pay by weight bin charges announced". 1 February 2016.
16. Events commemorate calendar anniversary of Rising
17. Alan Kelly sets up water quango in home county
18. O'Connor, Wayne (11 February 2016). "Politicians like Alan Kelly must be 'weeded out'". Irish Independent.
19. McMahon, Aine; Minihan, Mary (1 February 2016). "I’m the boss: Joan Burton responds to Alan Kelly’s comments". The Irish Times.

External links

• Official website
• Alan Kelly's page on the Labour Party website