News Contents: Conor McGahon

Conor McGahon

Conor McGahon (born 30 July 1965) is a former Irish Solicitor and retired Fine Gael member of both Louth County Council and Dundalk Urban District Council. He headed the poll in his ward when elected to the seat vacated by his father Brendan McGahon, a controversial Teachta Dala (TD) for the constituency of Louth from 1982 until 2002 and became the youngest local politician in the Republic of Ireland when first elected in 1991 and the fifth consecutive member of his family to sit on the County Council.

McGahon was born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland and was educated at the Marist College in Dundalk. He attended NUI Galway (then UCG) where he became Auditor of the Law Society and graduated in 1986 with a BA in Legal & Political Science and again in 1988 with an LLB. He subsequently became a Solicitor and Law lecturer at the Dundalk Institute of Technology (then Dundalk RTC). He sat as a member of the inaugural Border Regional Authority for a period of 2 years. He again ran for public office in 1994, taking a seat on Dundalk UDC from Sinn Fein and was elected Chairman of the Arts Committee for the life of the Council. He sat along with his uncle Johnny who became the sixth member of the McGahon family to sit on the Town Council (previously the Board of Guardians) since 1898.

Though he did not express public support for his colourful father’s socially conservative views, he was once heavily criticised for adopting a similar stance on security, in his support of the Peace movement in Northern Ireland during a highly controversial debate in the Council Chamber. He held the position of Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the UDC before leaving practice and retiring from public life in 1999 when he consented to the removal of his name from the roll of solicitors. He was recruited as legal advisor to Lord Ballyedmond of Mourne, Chairman and founder of veterinary pharmaceutical company Norbrook Laboratories Ltd (then Senator Edward Haughey), a Taoiseach’s appointee to Seanad Eireann, who served 2 terms of office. McGahon later worked for International Consulting firm Wolters Kluwer as a Tribunal Advocate specialising in Discrimination Law. He went on to establish a consulting practice in Employment Law in Belfast with an office in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.

A vegetarian and practising Buddhist of long standing, McGahon entered a Civil Partnership in Northern Ireland with his long term partner in the first year of its enactment in the UK and has become known as an active supporter of same-sex marriage rights and equality issues. He currently lives in Spain, on the Straits of Gibraltar.