Constituency South Role Irish Politician Nationality Irish Party Fine Gael | Political party Fine Gael / EPP Books Rule 42 and All That Name Sean Kelly | |
 | ||
Born 26 April 1952 (age 72)
County Kerry, Ireland ( 1952-04-26 ) Alma mater St Patrick\'s College of Education,
University College Dublin Education St Patrick\'s College, Dublin, University College Dublin Similar People Nickey Brennan, Joe McDonagh, Maurice Davin, Michael Cusack Profiles | ||
Seán Kelly (born 26 April 1952) is an Irish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South constituency. He is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party.
Contents
He served as the 34th President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (2003–06). He was the first Kerry man to hold that office being elected at the first attempt by a record margin at the GAA Congress in 2002. In July 2006 he took up the position of Executive Chairman of the Irish Institute of Sport, a body that was set up in Ireland to support elite athletes and players, and served as Executive President until he announced his resignation in July 2008.
Early and personal life
Kelly was born in Knockataggle, Kilcummin, Killarney, County Kerry in 1952. He was born into a family that was deeply involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association. His grandfather had been chairman of the local club and his four uncles had distinguished playing careers, with his uncle, also Seán Kelly, starring at full-forward for Kerry in their All-Ireland Championship success over Armagh in 1953. He is a first cousin to Fionnuala O'Kelly, wife of the current Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Kelly was educated at Kilcummin National School, Tralee CBS and St. Brendan's College, Killarney. He qualified as a primary school teacher in St Patrick's College of Education, Drumcondra and then attended University College Dublin where he received a B.A. and Higher Diploma in Education. He worked as a teacher in Dublin (Cromcastle Green, Kilmore West) and in St. Brendan's, Killarney.
GAA career
Before being elected president of the GAA he served as Chairman of the East Kerry (1975–87) and County Kerry Boards (1987–97) and Munster Council (1997–2000). He also was one of the founding members of the St. Patricks East Kerry hurling team in 1984. As the first Kerryman to hold the position of President of the GAA his presidency is seen as a landmark one in moving forward the Association on so many fronts – the introduction of Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup, Tommy Murphy Cup, All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate Championships, he also oversaw the completion of the Croke Park re-development through the completion of Hill 16/Northern end and the building of the Croke Park Jury’s Hotel. He introduced the President’s Awards and developed a great working relationship with the GPA and initiated major improvements in player welfare matters.
He is also credited with the successful conclusion of arrangements for the use of Croke Park, the GAA’s 82,500 capacity national stadium, by the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Football Association of Ireland while Lansdowne Road was being re-developed.
He has received a string of awards including Person of the Year 2005, Community Entrepreneur of the Year 2006, Business Person of the month (April 2005) and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Dublin Institute of Technology in February 2007.
Political career
He was elected as a Fine Gael candidate at the 2009 European Parliament election for the South constituency, at the expense of sitting MEP and party colleague Colm Burke. Kelly is a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development and the delegation for relations with the United States. He also serves as a substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Committee on Culture and Education and the delegation for relations with Canada.
In 2013 he served as Rapporteur for the ITRE Committee on European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding's proposals for the overhaul of the Data Protection regime across the European Union.
Kelly has been highly active since entering the Parliament, having spoken in the plenary session 529 times, and having tabled over 340 parliamentary questions as of February 2013.
Kelly was elected MEP of the Year for Research and Innovation by fellow MEPs for his work on the European Parliament's ITRE Committee in 2012
Kelly is a receptient of IAB Europe's Award for Leadership and Excellence in Public Policy for his work on data protection
He had been mentioned as a possible Fine Gael candidate for the 2011 presidential election. He was re-elected as an MEP for South at the 2014 European Parliament election.