Paul Coghlan

Paul Coghlan
Coghlan in 2018
Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann
In office
15 June 2016 – 27 March 2020
CathaoirleachDenis O'Donovan
Preceded byDenis O'Donovan
Succeeded byJerry Buttimer
Senator
In office
17 September 1997 – 29 June 2020
ConstituencyIndustrial and Commercial Panel
Personal details
Born(1944-06-01)1 June 1944
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
Died8 June 2023(2023-06-08) (aged 79)
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
Political partyFine Gael
Spouse
Peggy Coghlan
(m. 1986)
Children5
Alma materUniversity College Cork

Paul Coghlan (1 June 1944 – 8 June 2023) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from June 2016 to March 2020 and a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1997 to 2020.[1][2]

Coghlan unsuccessfully contested the 1992 general election in the Kerry South, constituency. He then stood on the Agricultural Panel in the election to the 20th Seanad, but did not win a seat.[3]

In 1997, he was elected to the 21st Seanad by the Industrial and Commercial Panel, and re-elected in 2002 to the 22nd Seanad, where he was Fine Gael spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He was re-elected in 2007 to the 23rd Seanad, again by the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

Born in Killarney, County Kerry, he was a member and former President of the Killarney Chamber of Commerce. He was a founding director of Radio Kerry and was a trustee and former Chairperson of Muckross House. He was also a member of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, the Life Assurance Association and the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers.

Coghlan was previously a member of Kerry County Council, Killarney Town Council and the Dingle Harbour Commissioners.

Coghlan was a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly and a member of the committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He retired from politics in 2020 and did not contest the 2020 Seanad election.[4]

Coghlan died on 8 June 2023, at the age of 79.[4]

  1. ^ "Paul Coghlan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Senator Paul Coghlan elected Leas-Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann - Fine Gael". finegael.ie. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Paul Coghlan". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Former Fine Gael senator Paul Coghlan dies aged 79". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2023.