Gerard Craughwell

Craughwell indicated that he would seek a nomination for the 2018 presidential election, but later withdrew his intention, claiming that the main political parties were "working together to deny the citizens of this Republic the opportunity to select their next President by means of an election".

Craughwell tried twice to join the Independent Seanad group, but it refused to admit him. He suggested the group, mainly Taoiseach's nominees, was compromising its independence and supporting the government. He later joined the Independent Alliance. He did not endorse Alliance members' criticism of the government's January 2016 appointment of David Begg, as Chair of the Pensions Authority.

Craughwell ran in the Seanad election in April 2016 and was elected this time for the Labour Panel.

Craughwell left the Independent Alliance during the government formation talks in 2016.

Fine Gael senator Deirdre Clune resigned from the Cultural and Educational Panel in the Seanad after being elected to the European Parliament for the South constituency at the 2014 European Parliament election. The by-election to fill the casual vacancy as its electorate the 225 members of the Oireachtas; nomination by nine members was required to be added to the ballot.

Craughwell put himself forward in August 2014 as an independent candidate, initially a symbolic gesture to protest against the usual practice of the government using its parliamentary majority to secure the election of its chosen candidate. Craughwell secured nomination from members of the technical group and Fianna Fáil.

On 12 September 2014, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys wrote to John McNulty, a businessman who had run unsuccessfully for Donegal County Council in the 2014 local elections, offering him a place on the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA); he accepted on 15 September, and before nominations closed on 18 September Fine Gael nominated him for the by-election to fill the Seanad vacancy. Opposition politicians protested that McNulty's IMMA appointment was abusive and had been made solely to bolster his eligibility for the Cultural and Educational Panel; Humphreys took responsibility for the appointment and refused to state whether others had pressed her to make it. McNulty resigned from the IMMA board on 25 September, stating its rules prohibited board members from running for election. On 23 February 2016, in a televised debate before the 2016 general election, Enda Kenny appeared to concede for the first time that it was his decision to nominate McNulty to IMMA, later backtracking somewhat.

On 30 September, McNulty withdrew his name from consideration in the by-election, stating that "to contest the election would be an ongoing distraction from the critical work of Government"; however, as the period to formally withdraw had elapsed, his name remained on the ballot paper and he requested that electors not vote for him. Many electors voted for McNulty regardless, but Craughwell won the election on 10 October 2014.

Craughwell was born in Galway and grew up in Salthill. When he was 16, he emigrated to the United Kingdom, settling in London, working in a pub before joining the Royal Irish Rangers. After five years he returned to Ireland and joined the Irish Army, serving in the first infantry battalion and fifth medical company at Renmore Barracks in Galway and rising to the rank of sergeant. He left the army in 1980 and took over his father's gas appliance maintenance business until it failed in 1983. Aged 35, he entered further education as a student in Limerick Senior College, gaining a degree in economics accredited by the London School of Economics. and then teaching in Dún Laoghaire Senior College. He joined the national executive of the Teachers' Union of Ireland in 2009, and was president between 2012 and June 2014.

Gerard Patrick Craughwell (born 22 November 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Senator since 2014 for the Cultural and Educational Panel (2014–16) and for the Labour Panel (2016 to present).