James Breen (politician)

James Breen
James Breen
Clare County Councillor
	In office; June 2009 – May 2019
Constituency	Ennis
	In office; 1991–2004
Constituency	Milltown Malbay / Ennis
Teachta Dála
	In office; May 2002 – May 2007
Constituency	Clare
Personal details
Born	23 May 1945 (age 79); County Clare, Ireland
Political party	Independent
Other political; affiliations	Fianna Fáil (until 2000)
Spouse	Eileen Breen

James Breen (born 23 May 1945) is an Irish former independent politician. He is a former Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency.^[1]

He was a SIPTU shop steward in De Beers in Shannon. Originally a Fianna Fáil councillor he left the party in 2000. Breen was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election. He joined the left wing Technical group which was set up to gain Dáil speaking time for independent, Sinn Féin and Socialist Party TDs. Breen narrowly lost his seat to Joe Carey of Fine Gael by 456 votes at the 2007 general election.^[2]

At the 2009 local elections he topped the poll in the Ennis West electoral area for Clare County Council.^[2] He again stood as an independent candidate at the 2011 general election for the Clare constituency but was again defeated on the last count, this time by Timmy Dooley by 1,501 votes. He retired from politics at the 2019 local elections.^[3]

References

^ "James Breen". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
^ ^a ^b "James Breen". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
^ "Breen announces retirement from politics". The Clare Echo. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.