PROFILE
Senator Gerard Craughwell was first elected to the Seanad in a By Election in 2014 and was re-elected to the Labour Panel in 2016 and again in 2020. In 2016 he was appointed to the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Since his election in October 2014, Gerard has made a very significant contribution to the legislative process by proposing amendments to a wide range of Bills. He has remained true to his promise not be “whipped by any party” and to “consider each vote as it arises”. He is passionate about the value of the Independent Politician as a leader and advocate of honest politics. He is deeply committed to the Labour Movement and Seanad Reform. He is very concerned about BREXIT and its implications for Ireland North and South. He recently retired as a teacher in the further education sector and is past president of the Teachers Union of Ireland.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Galway in 1953, Gerard is one of eleven children. He started work at 16 as a bar man in London. He soon joined the Royal Irish Rangers as a boy soldier and was a Lance Corporal by 17. He served with the Regiment until 1974 when he returned to Ireland and joined the Irish Defence Forces serving as a Sergeant in An Cead Caith Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa and also as an instructor in the Non Commissioned Officer’s Training School for the Western Command in Athlone. He later left the army and following a brief period running his own business he moved to Limerick with his wife and family to work. He graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1994 with a BSc in Economics and in 1995 he graduated from the University of Limerick with a Graduate Diploma in Computing. He moved to Dublin to take up a position as a teacher with Senior College Dun Laoghaire. He was soon promoted to Assistant Principal where he was responsible for a number of IT related courses. Gerard has been an active member of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland for many years. He was elected to the National Executive of the Union in 2009 where he served as Chairman of the Further Education Committee. He was elected President of the Union in 2012 and served in that capacity until 2014. Gerard was elected to the upper house of the Oireachtas Seanad Éireannin in October 2014, 2016 and 2020. He was nominated to the Labour Panel by the ICPSA which has ten affiliates representing in excess of 40,000 members including the Defence Forces (Navy, Army and Air Corps) and Garda Representative Groups (Police Force members). Gerard is married to Helen and has a daughter Rebecca and son David. He is a proud grandfather to Ellie and Isabel.
EXPERIENCE
Lance Corporal Royal Irish Rangers
IRISH Defence Forces 1974 -1980
Sergeant An Cead Caith Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa
BUSINESS OWNER 1980 - 1983
Self-Employed Business Owner (Galway Appliance Services Ltd)
UNDERFOOT DISTRIBUTORS ATHLONE 1983-1986
Driver with Underfoot Distributors Ltd Athlone, Co. Westmeath
AUGHINISH ALUMINA LTD. 1986-1990
Security and Fire Service
SENIOR COLLEGE DUN LAOGHAIRE 1995-2012
Assistant Principal Teacher of Computer Applications
Member of the Information Technology Certifying Organization
CompTIA.
Chairman of the Further Education Committee for the Teachers’ Union
of Ireland Executive Committee
TUI Credit Union
Board Member of the TUI Credit Union.
TEACHERS UNION OF IRELAND 2012-2014
President
SEANAD EIREANN 2014 - TO DATE
Independent Senator on the Cultural and Education Panel
2014-2016
Independent Senator on the Labour Panel 2016- to date
Webpage www.gerardcraughwell.ie
