Seán_Ó_Neachtain_(politician)
Seán Ó Neachtain (politician)
Irish former politician (born 1947)
Seán Ó Neachtain (born 22 May 1947) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency from 2002, when he was substituted for Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, until 2009.[1]
He was a member of the Transport and Tourism Committee, as well as the Fisheries Committee. Ó Neachtain was instrumental to the recognition of the Irish language as an official working language of the European Union.[2]
After obtaining a BA (hons) in 1969, Ó Neachtain became a school teacher. He worked in this capacity through the 1970s and 1980s. He was involved in regional politics around Galway and western Ireland from 1979, and served as a member of Galway County Council from 1991 to 2002. He made his first foray into European politics when he was appointed as a member of the Committee of the Regions in 1994. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Galway West constituency at the 1997 general election.[1]
On 20 April 2009, he announced that he would not be contesting the 2009 European Parliament election due to health concerns.[3]