Niall Blaney

Background

His grandfather Neal Blaney, his uncle Neil Blaney, and his father Harry Blaney all preceded him as TDs.

Education

Blaney graduated from Letterkenny Institute of Technology with a diploma in civil engineering.

Career

Foreign personal reasons, he decided not to contest the 2011 general election. Born in Letterkenny, County Donegal in 1974, Niall Blaney hails from a family with a long political history. He first became involved in politics when he was elected to Donegal County Council in 1999.

He was elected on the eighth count after a closely fought struggle with Sinn Féin councillor Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

In a surprise statement on 30 January 2011, just hours before a Fianna Fáil selection convention for his constituency, Blaney announced that he would not be contesting the 2011 general election. He cited "personal reasons" for his decision.

Achievements

• Three years later, in the 2002 general election, he won election to Dáil Éireann, capturing the third seat in the Donegal North–East constituency after Fianna Fáil"s Jim McDaid and Cecilia Keaveney.

Politics

Blaney started his political career as a member of Independent Fianna Fáil, a splinter group created by his uncle Neil T. Blaney when he was expelled from Fianna Fáil over the Arms Crisis of 1969-1970. As a supporter of the Fianna Fáil–led coalition government upon his election to the Dáil, Blaney was widely anticipated to join Fianna Fáil and stand as a candidate for that party at the 2007 general election. In the 2007 general election, Blaney again won the third seat in the constituency, after Fine Gael"s Joe McHugh and Fianna Fáil"s Jim McDaid.

Membership

A member of Independent Fianna Fáil until he joined Fianna Fáil in 2006, he served as a Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for Donegal North–East from 2002 to 2011. Although some members of the Blaney family opposed the move, Niall Blaney announced on 26 July 2006 that he had joined the Fianna Fáil party, a move that marked the effective end of Independent Fianna Fáil.