Michael McNamara (politician)

Michael McNamara (born 1 March 1974) is an Irish independent politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2024. He was previously a Teachta Dála (TD) for Clare from the 2020 general election to 2024, and from 2011 to 2016.^[1]

Michael McNamara MEP
McNamara in 2020
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 July 2024
Constituency	South
Teachta Dála
In office February 2020 – 17 July 2024
In office February 2011 – February 2016
Constituency	Clare
Chairman of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Response
In office 12 May 2020 – 8 October 2020
Preceded by	Committee established
Succeeded by	Committee dissolved
Personal details
Born	(1974-03-01) 1 March 1974 (age 51) Limerick, Ireland
Political party	Ireland: Independent EU: Renew Europe
Other political affiliations	Labour Party (until 2017)
Spouse	Sarah Jane Hillery ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University College Cork King's Inns

Political career

McNamara contested the 2009 European Parliament election in the North-West constituency as an independent candidate, receiving 12,744 votes (2.6%) and failing to be elected.^[2] He was elected as a Labour Party TD for Clare at the 2011 general election.^[3] He was a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine,^[4] and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2011 to 2016.^[5] McNamara is a barrister and has worked at the OSCE and on human rights and democracy projects of the European Union and United Nations. He was an unsuccessful independent candidate at the 2009 European Parliament election for the North-West constituency.^[3]

In May 2015, McNamara was expelled from the parliamentary Labour Party for voting against the government in the sale of Aer Lingus shares, the third time he voted against the government.^[6] He rejoined the parliamentary Labour Party in September 2015.^[7] He lost his seat at the 2016 general election.^[3]

He was elected as an independent candidate for the Clare constituency at the 2020 general election. He was the Chairman of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Response from 12 May to 8 October 2020.^[8] McNamara campaigned for a No-No vote in the 2024 referendums on the Family and Care as a member of the Lawyers for No group, alongside fellow barristers Senator Michael McDowell, Maria Steen and Brenda Power.^[9][10]

McNamara was elected as an independent MEP for the South constituency at the 2024 European Parliament election.^[11] He took office on 17 July 2024.^[12] He sits with the Renew Europe parliamentary group.^[13]

Personal life

McNamara is married to Sarah Jane Hillery, the granddaughter of Patrick Hillery, who served as president of Ireland from 1976 to 1990.^[2][14] They have two children.^[15][16]

McNamara was stopped at his home on 10 December 2016 after he was followed there by a garda. McNamara was pepper sprayed outside the house in Scarriff, County Clare and was arrested.^[17] He was brought to a garda station where he passed a breathalyser test and was released without charge.^[17] As a result of this incident, in January 2018, he was banned from driving for two years and convicted of dangerous driving.^[18][19] In November 2018, McNamara's dangerous driving conviction was overturned, following a successful appeal at Ennis circuit court.^[20]