List of LGBTQ politicians in Ireland

The following is a list of individuals who have been elected to a political office in Ireland, who fall under the umbrella of LGBTQ identities, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender individuals.

Taoiseach

Portrait	Name	Party		Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref
	Leo Varadkar (b. 1979)				Fine Gael	2007–2024	Gay	First gay Taoiseach First gay Tánaiste First minister to come out First openly gay TD to be elected the leader of a political party in Dáil Éireann	[1]

Dáil Éireann

† Came out after serving

Portrait	Name	Party		Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref
	Pat Carey (b. 1947)				Fianna Fáil	1997–2011	Gay	Served as a cabinet Minister from 2010 to 2011, came out in 2015 after his retirement	[2]
	Dominic Hannigan (b. 1965)		Labour	2011–2016	Gay	Joint first openly gay TD	[3]
	John Lyons (b. 1977)		Labour	2011–2016	Gay	Joint first openly gay TD	[3]
	Jerry Buttimer (b. 1967)		Fine Gael	2011–2016, 2024–	Gay	First openly gay Fine Gael TD First serving member of the Oireachtas to come out First openly gay Cathaoirleach First serving member of the Oireachtas to enter into a same-sex marriage	[4]
	Katherine Zappone (b. 1953)		Independent	2016–2020	Lesbian	First openly lesbian TD First member in a recognised same-sex relationship First openly lesbian serving cabinet minister	[5]
	Jack Chambers (b. 1990)		Fianna Fáil	2016–	Gay	First openly gay deputy leader of Fianna Fáil	[6]
	Cian O'Callaghan (b. 1979)		Social Democrats	2020–	Gay	First openly gay Social Democrats TD First openly gay mayor	[7]
	Roderic O'Gorman (b. 1981)		Green	2020–	Gay	First openly gay Green TD First serving TD to enter into a same-sex marriage	[8]
	Malcolm Byrne (b. 1974)		Fianna Fáil	2019–2020, 2024–	Gay	First openly gay TD elected in a by-election, and first openly gay Fianna Fáil TD	[9]
	Ken O'Flynn		Independent Ireland	2024–	Gay	First openly gay Independent Ireland TD	[10]
	Pádraig Rice (b. 1990)		Social Democrats	2024–	Gay		[11]
	Conor Sheehan (b. 1993)		Labour	2024–	Gay		[12]

Seanad

Portrait	Name	Party		Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref.
	David Norris (b. 1944)				Independent	1987–2024	Gay	First openly gay person elected to public office	[13]
	Colm O'Gorman (b. 1966)		Progressive Democrats	2007	Gay	First openly gay Progressive Democrats senator	[14]
	Fintan Warfield (b. 1992)		Sinn Féin	2016–2025	Gay	First openly gay Sinn Féin senator	[15]
	Niall Ó Donnghaile (b. 1985)		Sinn Féin	2016–2025	Gay
	Annie Hoey (b. 1988)		Labour	2020–2025	Bisexual	First serving member of the Oireachtas to come out as bisexual	[16] [17]
	Mal O'Hara (b. 1979)		Green	2024–2025	Gay		[18] [19]
	Laura Harmon (b. 1986)		Labour	2025–	Lesbian		[20]

European Parliament

Portrait	Name	Party		Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref.
	Maria Walsh (b. 1987)				Fine Gael	2019–	Lesbian	First openly lesbian Fine Gael politician	[21]

Sub-national level

Mayors

Name	Party		Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref.
John Moran				Independent	2024–	Gay		[22]

Councillors

Name	Party		Council	Years in office	Sexual orientation/ gender identity	Notes	Ref.
Tiernan Brady				Fianna Fáil	Bundoran Town Council	1999–2009	Gay		[23]
Peter Kelly		Fine Gael (Progressive Democrats until 2000)	Cork County Council	1999–2006	Gay		[24]
Michael Sheehan		Independent (Fianna Fáil until 2024)	New Ross Town Council Wexford County Council	1999–2009 (town council), 2009– (county council) [25]	Gay		[26]
Ruth Illingworth		Fianna Fáil	Mullingar Town Council	2004–2014	Lesbian	First openly gay council leader and openly gay female mayor [27]	[28]
John Keogh		Fianna Fáil	Roscommon County Council	2009–	Gay		[29]
Francis Timmons		Independent (Labour in 2024)	South Dublin County Council	2014–	Gay		[30]
Patrick McKee (b. 1988)		Fianna Fáil	Kilkenny County Council	2014–2019	Gay		[31]
Emma Murphy		Fianna Fáil	South Dublin County Council	2016–	LGBTQ+		[32]
Alan Edge		Independent	South Dublin County Council	2019–	Gay		[30]
Owen Hanley		Social Democrats	Galway County Council	2019–2023	Gay		[33]
Grace McManus		Sinn Féin	Wicklow County Council	2019–2023	Gay		[34]
Paul O'Brien		Labour	Wicklow County Council	2019–	Gay		[35]
Chris Pender		Social Democrats	Kildare County Council	2019–	Gay		[36]
John Sheridan		Fianna Fáil	Louth County Council	2019–	LGBTQ+	First openly LGBTQ+ person elected in County Louth	[37]
Darragh Adelaide		People Before Profit	South Dublin County Council	2024–	LGBTQ+		[38]
Luke Corkery		Fine Gael	Fingal County Council	2024–	Gay		[39]
Aisling Moran		Independent	Laois County Council	2024–	Gay	First openly LGBTQ+ person elected in County Laois	[40] [41]
Shane Hickey-O'Mara		Social Democrats	Limerick City and County Council	2024–	LGBTQ+		[42]
John Maher		Labour	Cork City Council	2024–	Gay		[43]
Declan Meehan		Independent	Donegal County Council	2024–	Gay		[44]
Glen Moore		Independent (Irish Freedom Party until 2025)	South Dublin County Council	2024–	Gay		[45]

See also

• LGBT rights in Ireland

References

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