Martin Heydon
|
Martin Heydon TD |
|
|---|---|
| Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party | |
|
Assumed office 8 June 2016 |
|
| Leader | Enda Kenny |
| Vice Chair | Pat Deering |
| Preceded by | Dan Neville |
| Teachta Dála | |
|
Assumed office February 2011 |
|
| Constituency | Kildare South |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 August 1978 Kilcullen, Kildare, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fine Gael |
| Spouse(s) | Brianne Leahy |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Alma mater | Teagasc Kildalton Agricultural College |
| Website | www |
Martin Heydon (born 9 August 1978) is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare South constituency at the 2011 and 2016 general elections. He was a member of Kildare County Council for the Athy electoral area from 2009 to 2011. In June 2016, Heydon was elected Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party.
Heydon is a native of South Kildare and lives outside of Kilcullen town, owning a family farm. He was educated in Crookstown National School, Cross & Passion College Kilcullen and Teagasc Kildalton Agricultural College in County Kilkenny.
Heydon joined the Fine Gael political party in 2008. He was elected to Kildare County Council in June 2009 at his first attempt. He was replaced on Kildare County Council following his Dáil Éireann election in February 2011 by Councillor Ivan Keatley.
He was the first Fine Gael TD to be elected in the Kildare South constituency after Alan Dukes lost his seat in 2002. Heydon ran on his own for the party in 2011 and polled over 12,000 votes to be returned as a first-time TD on the first count, his first attempt in a general election. He was more than 3,000 votes above the quota and as a result Newbridge Fine Gael councillor Fiona McLoughlin Healy was added to the ballot for the 2016 general election as his running mate.
Heydon won parliamentary re-election in the 2016 general election, topping the poll in Kildare South.
He served as Chair of Fine Gael's Internal Committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs between 2011 and 2016.
On 8 June 2016, Heydon was elected Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, succeeding retired Limerick TD Dan Neville. Carlow–Kilkenny TD Pat Deering was elected Vice Chair by the Parliamentary Party. Heydon's responsibilities in this role include chairing the weekly meeting of Fine Gael TDs and Senators in Leinster House, and representing the party through the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.
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