Joe Costello (politician)

Joseph Costello (born 13 July 1945) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a member of Dublin City Council since 2019. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade and Development from 2011 to 2014. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2016. He was a Senator for the Administrative Panel from 1989 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2002.[1]

Cllr Joe Costello
Minister of State for Trade and Development
In office 20 December 2011 – 15 July 2014
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	Jan O'Sullivan
Succeeded by	Robert Troy (2020)
Teachta Dála
In office May 2002 – February 2016
In office November 1992 – June 1997
Constituency	Dublin Central
Senator
In office 24 July 1997 – 12 May 2002
In office 30 November 1989 – 27 November 1992
Constituency	Administrative Panel
Personal details
Born	(1945-07-13) 13 July 1945 Geevagh, County Sligo, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Emer Costello (m. 1994)
Relations	Mary Moran (Sister-in-Law)
Children	2
Education	Summerhill College
Alma mater	St Patrick's College, Maynooth University College Dublin

He was a member of Dublin City Council from 1999 until the end of the dual mandate lead to him passing the seat to his wife Emer Costello. He was re-elected to the Council in 2019.

Costello was born in Geevagh, County Sligo and was educated at Summerhill College, Sligo, St Patrick's College, Maynooth and University College Dublin. He worked as a secondary school teacher before becoming a full-time public representative.[2]

Joe Costello's office 2007

He joined the Labour Party in 1985, and in 1989 he was elected to the 19th Seanad Éireann as a Senator for the Administrative Panel.[3] He remained there until the 1992 general election when he was elected to Dáil Éireann. Costello lost his seat at the 1997 general election but was subsequently elected to the Seanad again. Costello was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2002 and 2007 general elections.[3]

His wife Emer Costello is a former MEP for Dublin. He was director of elections for Michael D. Higgins during the 2011 presidential election.[4]

On 20 December 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade and Development, a position he served in until 15 July 2014.[4] He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014.[5] He was then appointed to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee.

He lost his seat at the 2016 general election.[3] Costello made national headlines in 2017 when he said a snap election could breach the Irish Constitution, as constituencies needed to be revised to take account of changes in population in the 2016 Census.[6]

He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Central constituency at the 2020 general election. [7]