Colm Burke

Who is Colm Burke?

Colm Burke is an Irish Fine Gael politician and member of Seanad Éireann.

He was a member of the European Parliament for the South constituency in Ireland between 2007 and 2009. He was appointed in June 2007 following the re-election of the outgoing MEP Simon Coveney to Dáil Éireann. Following the abolition of the dual mandate, Coveney opted to remain in national politics and resigned from the European Parliament. Burke subsequently sat as a Fine Gael and European People's Party MEP. He served on various European Parliament committees including Committee on Foreign Affairs, Internal Market & Consumer Protection, Committee on Fisheries and Subcommittee on Human Rights. Burke lost his seat at the 2009 European Parliament election, with Fine Gael party colleague Seán Kelly taking a seat instead.

Burke was a member of Cork City Council from 1999 to 2007 and served as Lord Mayor of Cork in the 2003–04 term. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in April 2011 and is the Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Health.