Alan Farrell

Who is Alan Farrell?

Alan Farrell is an Irish Fine Gael politician and a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election. He was a member of Fingal County Council from 2004 to 2011 for the Howth-Malahide electoral area having been elected at his first attempt in June 2004 following a 4 week campaign. He was re-elected at the 2009 local elections obtaining 12.3% of the first preference vote. Farrell was Deputy Mayor in 2005 and Mayor of Fingal in 2007–08.

Farrell is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality & Defence and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. He is also the chairperson of the Fine Gael Committee on Public Exependiture & Reform.

Since his election to the Dáil, Farrell has been the subject of controversy as he hired his wife Emma Doyle as his parliamentary assistant in the Dail just two weeks after she was rejected by Farrell's Dublin North Fine Gael Party branch as his replacement on Fingal County Council. Parliamentary assistants earn between €41,092 and €52,200 per year, which is paid for by the State.

In October 2013 he referred to singer Sinéad O'Connor as being "mad as a brush", in a tweet. He later issued a brief apology.