Senator Niall Blaney

Niall worked as a Civil Engineering Technician for Donegal County Council and was seconded to the National Roads Authority before being elected as a County Councillor in 1999 and replacing his father, Harry, on the Council. Niall also replaced his father as a TD in 2002 and remained in the position until 2011, serving as co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly from 2007 to 2011. Niall was elected a Senator in March 2020 and was re-elected to the Agricultural Panel in 2025. 

Niall’s grandfather was a founding member of  Fianna Fáil in Donegal after he was visited in the family home by Sean Lemass, who was sent to recruit him on behalf of Eamonn DeValera. He was first elected a Fianna Fáil TD in 1927 and served til his death in 1948, except for one term as a senator. His son, Neil T. would serve as a TD from 1948 until he died in 1995.