Niall Blaney

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Niall Blaney TD

Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 May 2002
Constituency	Donegal North East

Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil

Niall Blaney (Irish: Niall Ó Bléine; born 29 January 1974) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, he was previously a member of Independent Fianna Fáil. He has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 2002 and was re-elected at the 2007 general election.

He was born in Letterkenny, County Donegal in 1974. He hails from a family with a strong political tradition. His grandfather, Neal Blaney, was an Old IRA member and a TD from 1927 to 1948. Niall Blaney's uncle, Neil Blaney was also a TD and a controversial cabinet minister who was sacked in the midst of the Arms Crisis of 1970. He continued to represent the Donegal North East Dáil constituency, initially as an Independent TD, but subsequently forming his own political organisation, known as Independent Fianna Fáil, which contested Dáil and local elections in Donegal.

Niall Blaney's father, Harry Blaney, succeeded his brother Neil by becoming a TD in the 1997 general election. Niall Blaney himself first became involved in politics in 1999 when he was elected to Donegal County Council. Three years later, at the 2002 general election he succeeded in getting elected to Dáil Éireann in Donegal North East as an Independent Fianna Fáil TD.

He has been a consistent supporter of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat coalition in the Dáil, and with the anticipated retirement of the senior Fianna Fáil TD in the constituency, Jim McDaid, there had been speculation for some time that Blaney would apply to join Fianna Fáil and stand as a candidate at the forthcoming general election. The merger between the two organisations was opposed by other members of the Blaney family, including sons of Neil Blaney. On 26 July 2006, Blaney announced that he had joined the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

As a result, Fianna Fáil held all three seats in the Donegal North East constituency from then until the 2007 general election, when fellow Donegal North East TD Cecilia Keaveney lost her seat to Fine Gael's Joe McHugh.