Meet John

John McGuinness has been a TD for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency since 1997.

He was vice-chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee in the 29th Dáil and a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committees for European Affairs, Enterprise and Small Business, Justice, and Women’s Rights in the 28th Dáil.

He served as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee from 2011 to 2016 and Minister of State for Trade and Commerce from 2007 to 2009.

In 2010, his political memoir, The House Always Wins, was published by Gill & Macmillan.

He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform in April 2016 and remains in that position.

He first entered local politics in 1979 when he won a seat on the Kilkenny Borough Council. He was Mayor of Kilkenny City from 1996 to 1997.

He was the third generation of his family to serve on this council.

From 1991 until the abolition of the dual mandate in 2003, he was also member of Kilkenny County Council. His father, Michael McGuinness, served 50 years.