Louis O'Hara
Louis O'Hara (born 1997/1998) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency since the 2024 general election.[2][3] Early life and educationThe son of a solicitor,[1] O'Hara is from Cashla, a townland in Athenry civil parish. O'Hara graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public and Social Policy and a Master of Arts in Public Activism and Advocacy, both from the University of Galway.[1][4] Political careerO'Hara joined Sinn Féin at the age of 17, stating he was drawn in by the party's focus on representing young people.[5] O'Hara stood unsuccessfully at the 2019 local elections to Galway County Council.[6] At the 2020 general election, aged 22 and still a student at University of Galway, O'Hara lost out to Anne Rabbitte of Fianna Fáil.[7][5] Following the election of Sinn Féin's Midlands North West MEP Matt Carthy as TD for Cavan-Monaghan in February 2020 and his replacement as MEP by Chris MacManus of Sligo, O'Hara became constituency manager for MacManus, a role he held until the 2024 general election.[8] In 2020 O'Hara criticised Sinn Féin's Northern Ireland Finance Minister Conor Murphy after Murphy stated that Paul Quinn, who was murdered in 2007, was involved in smuggling and criminality.[1] O'Hara was elected at the 2024 local elections to Galway County Council for the Athenry–Oranmore area.[5] At the 2024 general election, O'Hara was elected Teachta Dála for the Galway East constituency, having won 14% of the first preference vote.[9] In a party selection convention held shortly after the general election, Martin McNamara was selected to replace O'Hara on Galway County Council as a Sinn Féin councillor representing the Athenry-Oranmore local electoral area.[10] Political viewsO'Hara has campaigned on the issues of housing, health, transport, and rural development, with a particular focus on dereliction in towns across County Galway,[11] a reduction in rents and provision of affordable housing,[12][13] reopening the Western Railway Corridor to connect Tuam and Athenry with Galway City as well as an increase and enhancement of primary healthcare services.[14] O'Hara has also highlighted the destructive role that large corporations are playing in relation to the issue of climate change; His 2020 manifesto stated "If we are serious about tackling the climate crisis we must target those who are responsible for pollution".[1] As the spokesperson for Galway East Sinn Féin in January 2021, O'Hara published an opinion piece in the Galway Advertiser newspaper where he outlined some of the rationale for holding a referendum to affect constitutional change on the issue of Irish unity. In the article he references research carried out by Dr Kurt Huebner[15] of the University of British Columbia which forecast that "Irish Unity would deliver a €35.6 billion boost in GDP for the island in the first eight years after unification, resulting in more jobs, higher wages, and more money to spend on public services".[16][17] References
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