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The Healy-Rae family is a political and business family based in the Kilgarvan area of County Kerry in Ireland. The patriarch was Jackie Healy-Rae (1931–2014).

History

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Michael Healy-Rae is nicknamed "Dolly" for mimicking the attributes of his father

Jackie Healy-Rae grew up on a small farm, returned after emigrating to the United States,[1] and developed building-supply and retail businesses. He was a member of Kerry County Council in the Killarney local electoral area (LEA) from 1973 until 2003, as a Fianna Fáil member until the 1997 general election; the party did not select him as a candidate in Kerry South so he ran as an independent and unexpectedly won a seat in the 28th Dáil. At the 1999 local elections his son Michael joined Jackie on the council, representing Killorglin LEA. When the dual mandate was abolished in 2003, Jackie vacated his council seat and another son, Danny, was co-opted in his place. At the 2011 general election, Jackie retired and Michael was elected to the Dáil, with his council seat filled by Danny's son Johnny.[2] At the 2014 Kerry County Council election, Danny retained his Killarney seat while Johnny won in the new South and West Kerry LEA.[3] Just before nominations closed for the 2016 general election, in the enlarged Kerry constituency, Danny joined Michael as a candidate. They ran a united campaign with strict vote management and both were elected.[4] Danny's daughter Maura was co-opted onto the council as his replacement.[5] Michael's parliamentary assistant (PA) is his son Jackie junior;[6] Danny's PA is his wife Eileen,[7] while his secretarial assistant position is job-shared between his daughter Elaine and Johnny's wife Caroline O'Mahony.[citation needed] At the 2019 Kerry County Council election, Maura and Johnny stood for re-election in the Killarney and Kenmare LEAs respectively, while Jackie junior stood in Castleisland LEA.[8] All three were elected.[9] The two TDs and three councillors appear together on The Late Late Show on 31 May 2019.[10] Jackie junior remains Danny's PA while serving as councillor.[11] At the 2024 Kerry County Council election, Maura, Jackie Junior and Johnny Healy-Rae were re-elected.[12]

On 25 November 2019, Jackie and his younger brother Kevin were convicted of assault causing harm at a chip van in Kenmare on 28 December 2017;[11] they received suspended jail sentences of eight and seven months respectively.[13]

Policies and image

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The Healy-Raes are clientelist: Jackie gave confidence and supply support to Fianna-Fáil-led governments of 1997–2002 and 2007–2011 in return for pork barrel funding for South Kerry. Opponents characterise them as gombeens,[14] and news media have criticised them as populist and lacking any ideology, while supporters portray them as standing up to the metropolitan elites in Dublin.[15] Jackie (throughout his Dáil career) and Michael (in the 31st Dáil) chose not to join the technical group to which independent TDs are entitled. The Healy-Raes' main rivals for votes in Kerry are Fianna Fáil candidates.[16]

Outside the Dáil chamber, Jackie was always seen wearing a trademark flat cap in public; though Danny appears bare-headed, Michael has carried on the tradition,[4] and in February 2017 was permitted to wear it in the Dáil chamber.[17] Michael was nicknamed "Dolly", after the cloned sheep, for being similar to his father;[18][19] journalist Shane Hegarty enumerated "[t]he flat cap, the mannerisms, the political ambition, the linguistic trickery, the neck".[20] A Fine Gael election strategy document leaked in 2015 described Michael as 'someone who hides behind "the veneer of a friendly/simple country yokel" but who is "unbeatable electorally"'.[21] After the 2016 election, Michael and Danny aligned themselves with other rural independents during separate negotiations with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.[22] Michael publicly proposed creation of a Minister for Rural Affairs, while playing down media suggestions he himself might take the position.[23] When the 32nd Dáil changed Dáil standing orders to allow multiple technical groups, Michael and Danny joined the Rural Alliance technical group.[24]

In 2008, the Irish Times likened the Healy Raes to the mafia, calling the family “the well honed Healy Rae political mafia,” with former Ceann Comhairle and Kerry TD John O’Donoghue claiming that there was "a tinge of the Cosa Nostra'' in one of Jackie Healy-Rae's requests in relation to election boundaries.[25]

In a 2011 edition of Irish Political Studies, an example of assistance from one of the family members was cited by one voter as a reason for supporting them; "I need a track machine to clear a drain and Johnny had it down to me with a driver in two days, all free."[26][27] Ahead of the 2020 general election, British newspaper The Guardian commented that "the family has elevated patronage and personal connection – venerable traditions in Irish politics – to high art." On the electoral success of Jackie, it wrote that he "distilled the Kerry-man archetype – flat cap, melodic accent, folksy phraseology – into a potent formula."[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ O'Regan, Michael (28 September 2015). "Julie Healy-Rae dies in Killarney". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  2. ^ O'Sullivan, Majella (23 December 2014). "Council celebrates life of 'iconic politician' Healy-Rae". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. ^ Lucey, Anne (26 May 2014). "Kerry county results: Healy-Rae duo's performance all-conquering". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b Hickey, Donal (29 February 2016). "Brand Healy-Rae reaps rewards of keeping their politics local". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. ^ Lucey, Anne (15 March 2016). "Maura Healy-Rae formally co-opted onto Kerry County Council". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  6. ^ Lucey, Anne (4 November 2019). "Michael Healy-Rae says he was in Dáil before journey to Kerry". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  7. ^ Coyle, Colin (16 October 2016). "Kenny red-faced as six ministers continue to keep it in the family". The Times. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Kerry County Council". Live results from the 2019 Local Elections and European Elections. RTÉ. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Kerry". Live results from the 2019 Local Elections and European Elections. RTÉ. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Healy-Raes and billionaire Collison brothers lead final Late Late Show of the season". www.irishexaminer.com. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  11. ^ a b O'Connor, Aidan (25 November 2019). "Two Healy-Rae brothers found guilty of assaulting a man on a night out in 2017". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Kerry County Council". RTÉ News. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  13. ^ Lucey, Anne (6 December 2019). "Two Healy-Rae brothers given suspended sentences for Kenmare chip van assault". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  14. ^ Boland, Rosita (9 July 2016). "Michael and Danny Healy-Rae: Gombeen men or political geniuses?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  15. ^ Weeks, Liam (April 2004). "Independents in government: a case-study of Ireland" (PDF). ‘New Parties in Government’ Joint Sessions of Workshops. European Consortium for Political Research. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  16. ^ O'Regan, Michael (19 August 2016). "Gloves off between FF and Healy-Raes in fight for the Kingdom". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  17. ^ Lord, Miriam (25 February 2017). "Enda starts his 'Not Dead Yet' tour". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 February 2017. And congratulations again to Michael Healy-Rae for reaching a groundbreaking agreement with the Leinster House authorities this week. He now has permission to wear his cap in the chamber, the first time in Dáil history.
  18. ^ Drennan, John (27 June 1999). "Filling the next generation's cap -". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  19. ^ "Healy-Rae calls - Reform must apply to all". Irish Examiner. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  20. ^ Hegarty, Shane (2 July 2011). "When clone voting meets peak viewing". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  21. ^ Kelly, Fiach (27 March 2015). "Healy-Rae has veneer of 'yokel' says FG strategy paper". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  22. ^ Lord, Miriam (26 March 2016). "Independents need jump leads and a hanger". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  23. ^ Collins, Adrian (26 March 2016). "Michael Healy Rae says both party leaders back proposal of Minister for Rural Affairs - Newstalk". Newstalk. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  24. ^ "Galway TDs join new technical groups". Galway Independent. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016. Fellow Galway West TD Noel Grealish, along with his 'Rural Alliance' group, made up of Healy-Rae duo Michael and Danny, as well as Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, Cork's Michael Collins and Clare's Michael Harty, will form another technical group.
  25. ^ O'Regan, Michael. "Moving electoral boundary endangers Healy-Rae mafia". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  26. ^ Coakley, John; Gallagher, Michael (December 2017). Politics in the Republic of Ireland. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-11945-1.
  27. ^ O'Leary, Eimear (2011). "The constituency orientation of modern TDs". Irish Political Studies. 26 (3): 329–43. doi:10.1080/07907184.2011.593737. S2CID 144606235.
  28. ^ "Meet the Healy-Raes: the rural Irish populists who have never lost an election". the Guardian. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

Further reading

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  • Hickey, Donal (1 November 2015). The Healy-Raes: A Twenty-Four Seven Political Legacy. Rushy Mountain Books. ISBN 978-0993463303.
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