22 Facts About Gay Mitchell

Gabriel Mitchell was born on 30 December 1951 and is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State for European Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1992 to 1993.

Gay Mitchell served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2014 and a Teachta Dala for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 1981 to 2007.

Gay Mitchell was defeated by Enda Kenny in the 2002 Fine Gael leadership election.

Gay Mitchell was the Fine Gael candidate at the 2011 presidential election.

Gay Mitchell was educated at St Michael's Congregation of Christian Brothers, Emmet Road Vocational School, Dublin Institute of Technology, College of Commerce, Queen's University Belfast and the University of Nottingham.

Since leaving politics Gay Mitchell gained a degree and masters from The Priory Institute.

Gay Mitchell's brother, Jim Mitchell, was a long-serving Fine Gael TD and Minister.

Gay Mitchell first held political office in 1979 as a member of Dublin City Council.

Gay Mitchell was first elected to Dail Eireann as a Fine Gael TD in the 1981 general election for the Dublin South-Central constituency.

Gay Mitchell was the Irish Representative on the Reflection Group which prepared the Amsterdam Treaty.

Gay Mitchell served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1992 to 1993.

In November 2006, Gay Mitchell announced that he had taken the difficult decision not to contest the 2007 general election and concentrate on his European Parliament seat.

Gay Mitchell was a substitute member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China.

Gay Mitchell is the author of By Dail Account, the first book published in Ireland on the history and role of the Public Accounts Committee and the office of Comptroller and Auditor General.

In June 2011, Gay Mitchell refused to release details of his expense and allowance claims as a member of the European Parliament.

In 2011, Gay Mitchell announced his intention to seek the Fine Gael nomination for the Irish presidential election.

Gay Mitchell launched his presidential campaign with Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 3 October 2011.

Gay Mitchell promised to "jump off O'Connell Bridge" if he was asked to smile.

On 22 March 2002, Amina Lawal was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and for conceiving a child out of wedlock, as chair of the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee, Gay Mitchell met with the Nigerian ambassador to Ireland to protest the sentence at the time.

The victim's mother, Evelyn Eudy said that she "was appalled to hear Mr Gay Mitchell was running as a presidential candidate in Ireland".

In 2004, Gay Mitchell defended Italian MEP Rocco Buttiglione's remarks when he referred to homosexuality as a sin.

Gay Mitchell has been questioned as to whether or not he is a member of the European Catholic group Dignitatis Humanae Institute, which he denied on the same radio interview with Pat Kenny, However, according to Benjamin Harnwell, the institute's founding chairman Gay Mitchell helped formulate the charter that became the institute's Universal Declaration of Human Dignity.