Colm Keaveney was born on 11 January 1971 and is an Irish former Fianna Fail politician.
16 Facts About Colm Keaveney
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Colm Keaveney was elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dala for the Galway East constituency at the 2011 general election, Colm Keaveney sat as an Independent TD after losing the Labour whip in December 2012.
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Colm Keaveney resigned from the party in June 2013, and joined Fianna Fail in December 2013.
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Colm Keaveney is a former chairperson of the Labour Party.
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Colm Keaveney lost his seat at the 2016 general election and was elected to Galway County Council in 2019.
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Colm Keaveney is originally from the village of Garrafrauns, in north County Galway.
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Colm Keaveney was first elected to Tuam Town Council in the 1999 local elections.
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Colm Keaveney is a former SIPTU trade union official and former president of the Union of Students in Ireland.
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Colm Keaveney remained as Chairman of the Labour Party, as he was elected by the party members.
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Colm Keaveney vocally opposed the government's Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, both because of the absence of a time limit for termination and because he feared that the "suicide" clause would "normalise" suicide at a time when it was already becoming a serious problem in Ireland.
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Colm Keaveney had previously expressed pro-choice views, telling a Tuam Town Council debate in 2000 that abortion was "the last resort for women and every aspect of a woman's decision should be looked at and taken into consideration" and that anti-abortion literature distributed by colleague Martin Ward was "sickening and offensive".
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Colm Keaveney's defection was met with opposition from local members of Fianna Fail in Galway East, particularly from supporters of local TD Michael Kitt and former MEP Mark Killilea.
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Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin was forced to deny rumours that Colm Keaveney would be selected as the sole candidate for the party in the next general election.
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Colm Keaveney was an unsuccessful Fianna Fail candidate in the Galway East constituency at the 2016 general election and was elected to the Tuam local electoral area at the 2019 Galway County Council election.
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Colm Keaveney did not contest the 2024 Galway County Council election.
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On 11 June 2024 Colm Keaveney was charged with driving under the influence of cocaine under an alleged incident that occurred on 12 June 2023.