He also worked and studied in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In 2008 he completed a master"s degree in Public Administration in International Development in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
He was elected as an independent Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for the Wicklow constituency at the 2011 general election, and for the Social Democrats party at the 2016 general election. Donnelly is a graduate of University College Dublin (University College Dublin) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 2000 Donnelly moved to London where he worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
He returned to work for McKinsey and Company in Dublin before deciding to run for office in 2011.
In October 2012, he addressed Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, in the Dáil on behalf of the technical group, saying: "€67 billion is being borrowed from the troika, virtually all of which is going into the banks and almost the same amount is being given by the banks to the senior bondholders in terms of forgone losses. This is what has happened: there has been a €67 billion circle of money from the troika through Ireland to the international banks and investors… I thank Mr.
Schulz for his support and I hope he will be able to bring this simple message back: Ireland did not get a bailout and Ireland is not looking for aid or benevolence. We need our money back in order that we can contribute to the recovery of Europe."
The Irish Times"s Miriam Lord recognised Donnelly as her 2012 Politician of the Year, due to his contributions on Ireland"s financial crisis.
Social Democrats.
On 15 July 2015, Donnelly launched the Social Democrats party along with former Labour Party Territorial Decoration Róisín Shortall and former independent Territorial Decoration Catherine Murphy.
Donnelly is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and part of the Irish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Company-operation in Europe (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).
