List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned since 1923

This is a list of members of the Oireachtas (National Parliament of Ireland)^[1] who served a prison sentence or were interned since 1923 in any jurisdiction before, during or after their time as a Teachta Dála (TD) or Senator.

Name	Party		Term of office		Prison time	Prison(s)	Reason	Notes
Henry Coyle		Cumann na nGaedheal	1923	May 1924	1924–27	?	Fraud (Bouncing cheques)[2]	Disqualified from the Oireachtas as a result
Seán McGuinness		Republican	1923	October 1925	1925–26	?	Assaulting a Garda Sergeant	Disqualified from the Oireachtas as a result
Dominick Cafferky		Clann na Talmhan	1943	1954	early 1940s	Sligo Gaol	1940s land agitation in Mayo[2]	Later became a leading Dáil spokesman on penal reform
Bernard Commons		Clann na Talmhan	Dec 1945	1957	early 1940s	Sligo Gaol	1940s land agitation in Mayo[2]
James Larkin		Labour Party	1927	1944	1940s	?	Bankruptcy[2]
John Joe McGirl		Sinn Féin	1957	1961	1946	?	IRA membership
					1957–62	Mountjoy	Actions during the IRA Border Campaign
Tomás Mac Giolla		Workers' Party	Nov 1982	1992	1956–62	Mountjoy	IRA membership and actions during the IRA Border Campaign
Proinsias De Rossa		Sinn Féin, Workers' Party, Democratic Left, Labour Party	Feb 1982	2002	1956–59	Mountjoy, Curragh Camp	IRA membership and actions during the IRA Border Campaign
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh		Sinn Féin, Republican Sinn Féin	1957	1961	Jan–Jun 1957	Mountjoy	Failing to account for his activities and actions during the IRA Border Campaign
					Jun 1957–Sep 1958	Curragh Camp	Interned	Escaped in September 1958
					Nov 1959–May 1960	Mountjoy	Imprisoned under the Offences against the State Act
					Jan–Jun 1973	Curragh Camp	Membership of the Provisional IRA
Adams, GerryGerry Adams		Sinn Féin	2011		1972, 1973–76	HMS Maidstone, Long Kesh	Membership of the Provisional IRA	Interned, but imprisoned for attempted escape
Agnew, PaddyPaddy Agnew		Anti H-Block	1981	1982	1973–76, 1977–86	Portlaoise, Mountjoy, Crumlin Road, Maze	Illegal importation of arms on behalf of the Provisional IRA and membership of same	Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1981 general election while in prison
Kieran Doherty		Anti H-Block	Jun 1981	Aug 1981	1976–81	Maze	Possession of firearms and explosives, and hijacking	Died on hunger strike in August 1981
Martin Ferris		Sinn Féin	2002		1984–94	Portlaoise	Illegal importation of arms on behalf of the Provisional IRA and membership of the same
Dessie Ellis		Sinn Féin	2011		1982–90	Portlaoise	Provisional IRA membership
Tony Gregory		Independent	Feb 1982	Jan 2009	1986	Mountjoy	For activities during a campaign in support of Dublin inner city street traders	Spent 2 weeks in prison
Luke 'Ming' Flanagan		Independent	2011		1998	Loughan House	Non payment of fines related to the Litter Pollution Act[3]	Spent 3 weeks in prison
Liam Lawlor		Fianna Fáil	1977	2002	Jan 2001, Jan 2002, Feb 2002	Mountjoy	Failure to cooperate with the Mahon Tribunal	[4]
Joe Higgins		Socialist Party	1997		Sep–Oct 2003	Mountjoy	Actions during the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign	[5]
Clare Daly		Socialist Party	2011		Sep–Oct 2003	Mountjoy	Actions during the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign	[5]
		United Left			7–9 pm, 9 December 2015	Limerick Prison	Non-payment of fines	Fined €2,000 on 22 April 2015 for entering a restricted area at Shannon Airport on 22 July 2014 when protesting against U.S. Air Force landings. Sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment.[6]
Ray Burke		Fianna Fáil	1973	1998	Jan–Jun 2005	Arbour Hill	Falsifying tax returns	Mahon Tribunal stated that Burke was unambiguously "corrupt"
Francis O'Brien		Fianna Fáil	1989	2011	2013–15	Castlerea Prison	Demanding money with menaces
Ned O'Keeffe		Fianna Fáil	1982	2011	2014		Falsifying expense claims
Ivor Callely		Fianna Fáil	1989	2011	2014–15	Wheatfield Prison	Falsifying expense claims
Mick Wallace		Independent	2011		2–4 pm, 9 December 2015	Limerick Prison	Non-payment of fines	Same crimes and sentence as Clare Daly.[7][8][9]

See also

• List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned during the Irish revolutionary period (1916–23)
• Records of members of the Oireachtas

References

1. The two Houses of the Oireachtas are: Dáil Éireann (lower) and Seanad Éireann (upper).
2. Colman Cassidy (17 January 2001). "TDs who have seen the inside of a cell". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
3. Siggins, Lorna (8 March 2011). "From Ming the Merciless to Ming the Mayor". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
4. "Time to go, Mr Lawlor". Irish Independent. 8 February 2002. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
5. "Jailed politicians 'grandstanding', says Cullen". RTÉ News. 19 September 2003. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
6. "TD Clare Daly released from Limerick prison - RTÉ News". RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
7. "Mick Wallace taken to Limerick Prison over fine". RTÉ News (RTÉ). 9 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
8. Deegan, Gordon (22 April 2015). "Mick Wallace: “I wouldn’t pay that fine to save my life”". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
9. Doyle, Kevin; Hayes, Kathryn (9 December 2015). "Independent TD Mick Wallace is released from prison after two hours inside". Irish Independent. Retrieved 9 December 2015.