Keith Swanick

Keith Swanick
Senator
In office
8 June 2016 – 29 June 2020
ConstituencyCultural and Educational Panel
Personal details
BornCastlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Aislinn Swanick
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2
Alma mater

Keith Swanick is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 2016 to 2020.[1][2]

Early life and education

Originally from Castlerea in County Roscommon, Swanick and his wife run a GP Practice in Belmullet in the Erris region of North Mayo. He is also the Secretary of the National Association of Irish General Practitioners.[3]

Career

He was chosen as a candidate for Fianna Fáil in a Seanad by-election after the retirement of Jimmy Harte, which was won by Labour's Máiría Cahill.[4] He initially considered contesting the 2016 general election in the Roscommon-Galway constituency but declined.[5]

He was the Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on Health and Mental Health.[6]

He did not contest the 2020 Seanad election, after being involved in an Oireachtas expenses controversy.[6] It was revealed that he was accepting appointments at his GP practice in Mayo on the same day that he was registered as present in the Seanad in Dublin. An RTÉ investigation showed that over a three-year period he claimed almost €73,000 in travel expenses, but failed to vote on 84 of the 114 voting days he was signed in for at Leinster House.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Keith Swanick". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Quarter of senate seats filled". RTÉ News. 26 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. ^ "The Loneliness Taskforce". Eolas Magazine. 31 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Fianna Fáil Selects Community GP For Seanad Bye Election". fiannafail.ie. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Castlerea native Dr Keith Swanick to contest Seanad by election for Fianna Fail". Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Fianna Fáil Senator at centre of expenses controversy will not seek re-election". The Irish Times. 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.