Politics

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin to retire from politics

Sinn Féin deputy for Cavan says he will not stand in the next general election

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has been a TD since 1997. Photograph: Eric Luke/THE IRISH TIMES
Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has been a TD since 1997. Photograph: Eric Luke/THE IRISH TIMES
Sarah Bardon
Wed Mar 07 2018 - 19:00

Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has confirmed he will not stand in the next general election.

Mr Ó Caoláin was first elected a TD for the party in 1997 and was the first Sinn Féin representative to be elected. He has been re-elected every election since.

Speaking at a meeting of councillors and activists in Cavan on Wednesday night, Mr Ó Caoláin said he was standing aside to facilitate a younger generation to come forward.

Mr O’Caolain served as the party’s sole representative from 1997 to 2002 and served as the party’s Dáil leader until 2011.

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A former bank official, he was first elected to Monaghan County Council in 1985.

He was general manager of An Phoblacht/Republican News from 1982 to 1985 and director of elections for Kieran Doherty, one of the H-Block hunger- strikers, who won a Dáil seat in 1981.