Martin Kenny

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martin Kenny
TD
Martin Kenny 2019.jpg
Kenny in 2019
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2016
ConstituencySligo–Leitrim
Personal details
Born (1971-10-01) 1 October 1971 (age 50)
Sligo, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partySinn Féin
Spouse(s)Helen Kenny
Children4
Alma materInstitute of Technology, Sligo

Martin Kenny (born 1 October 1971) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Sligo–Leitrim constituency since the 2016 general election.[1][2]

Career[]

Kenny became a member of Leitrim County Council in 2001, when he was co-opted to replace Liam McGirl, the son of former Sinn Féin TD John Joe McGirl.[3]

Harassment and attacks[]

In May 2016, Kenny alleged a number of serious instances of misconduct within the Garda Síochána. The main allegations included that gardaí were engaging informants who were active criminals, outside the Garda Covert Human Intelligence Sources programme. He also mentioned a number of instances including "robberies allegedly carried out by informants under the direction of gardaí", cases of entrapment made at the behest of Garda handlers,[4] and an instance where "senior gardaí did not inform other members of the force of plans by a criminal gang to carry out attacks at the homes of gardaí".[5]

He also stated that two Gardaí had brought this to the attention of both Martin Callinan (former Commissioner of the Garda Síochána) and the former Minister of Justice, Alan Shatter, but their concerns were ignored.[5][6]

In October 2019, Kenny said he had received death threats after he spoke out in Dáil Eireann against far-right elements in Irish society using anti-immigrant rhetoric. Kenny's remarks were spurred by the aftermath of the 2019 Grays incident, and recent protests against the building of a Direct Provision centre in his own constituency in County Leitrim as well other protests in Ireland against the construction of Direct Provision centres.[7] On 28 October 2019, Kenny's car was set ablaze outside his family home.[8][9] In an interview with Ocean FM he described the arson attack as "traumatic" and feared that he was facing the same fate as Kevin Lunney.[10]

In October 2021, a threat of gun violence was made to Kenny's office.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Martin Kenny". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Election 2016: Martin Kenny". RTÉ News. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Martin Kenny". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. ^ "'Rogue' gardaí using criminal informants to entrap people, says TD". The Irish Times. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Policing Authority says level of service to crime victims 'unacceptable'". RTÉ News. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  6. ^ ""Rogue" gardaí working with criminal informants to entrap people, TD claims". newstalk.com. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  7. ^ Loughlin, Elaine (25 October 2019). "Death threat to TD who hit out at 'far-right ideology'". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  8. ^ McDonagh, Marese (28 October 2019). "Minister for Justice 'appalled' by alleged arson attack on TD's car". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Car of Sinn Féin TD who received death threats last week set on fire outside his home". TheJournal.ie. 28 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  10. ^ Ó Cionnaith, Fiachra (29 October 2019). "TD whose car was burned out 'feared same fate as Kevin Lunney'". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  11. ^ Staff, Daniel McConnell and Aoife Moore Political (26 October 2021). "Gun threat made to office of Sinn Féin TD". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 October 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""