Background
The son of former Fianna Fáil Territorial Decoration and cabinet minister Jim Gibbons, Snr, Gibbons stood at the 1997 general election as the Progressive Democrats candidate in Carlow–Kilkenny constituency, previously represented both by his father Jim (between 1957 and 1981, then between February and November 1982) and by his brother Martin Gibbons (between 1987 and 1989).
