Matt Shanahan was born in 1964. His father was a doctor in Ardkeen Hospital, and his mother was a home economics teacher by profession.[3] Shanahan attended St Augustine's College, Dungarvan.[3] He worked for Dawn Meats and in the United States before receiving a degree in marketing in Morehampton College, Dublin and moving back to Waterford.[3]
In December 2018, Mary Roche, an independent Waterford City and County Councillor resigned her seat in the Waterford City East local electoral area. She nominated Shanahan to replace her. In line with the local rules requiring a vote to be held in place of a co-optation, a convention was held on 10 January 2019 and the remaining councillors duly voted 25–5 on to co-opt Shanahan to Roche's vacant seat, with Sinn Féin councillors voting against his nomination.[9] He retained his seat in the 2019 local elections, topping the poll,[10] and commenting, "it's not a strong vote for Matt Shanahan, it's a strong vote on the whole hospital issue here in the South-East".[11] Mary Roche, the former independent councillor from which Shanahan inherited his seat, was co-opted to Shanahan's seat on Waterford City and County Council following his election to the Dáil.[12]
On 14 January 2020, Shanahan announced he would be standing in the general election to be held on 8 February.[13] While The Irish Times said he was 'seen as the single-issue "hospital candidate"',[14] Shanahan also mentioned university status for Waterford Institute of Technology and "the increasing inequality glaringly apparent between economic measures and development in the South East versus similar city regions in Ireland".[13] He was elected on the seventh count.[15]
In 2021, Shanahan was the subject of controversy after he made a post on Twitter in response to a woman sharing her experience of being harassed, for which he was accused of "victim blaming".[17]
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