John McGahon (born 20 November 1990) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel since April 2020.[1]
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John McGahon
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| Senator | |
| Assumed office 29 June 2020 | |
| Constituency | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1990-11-20) 20 November 1990 (age 33) Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland |
| Political party | Fine Gael |
| Relatives | Brendan McGahon (uncle) |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
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McGahon is from Dundalk, County Louth, and attended Dundalk Grammar School. He obtained a BA in history and politics from University College Dublin.[2] His father, Johnny McGahon, was a member of Dundalk town council from 1994to2004.[3] His uncle Brendan McGahon was a TD for Louth from 1982to2002.[4]
John McGahon was first elected to Louth County Council for the Dundalk–Carlingford local electoral areain2014, retaining his seat in 2019.[5][6] He was elected as chairperson of the Dundalk Municipal District on two separate occasions, 2017–2018 and 2019–2020.[7] He stood unsuccessfully in the Louth constituency in the 2020 general election.[5]
On 31 March 2020, McGahon was elected to Senate following the 2020 election to the upper house.[8] In June 2020, he was appointed as the Fine Gael senate spokesperson on climate action and is on the joint Oireachtas committee on climate action and the committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
While awaiting trial for an alleged assault in his home town of Dundalk, dating to June 2018,[9] McGahon was asked by Fine Gael not to stand in the 2020 general election but ran anyway. In an interview with LMFM in October 2018, he admitted that he had been involved in a fight and that he had a long-standing problem with alcohol.[10][11]
On 24 May 2022, McGahon went on trial, accused of assault.[12] On 27 May 2022, he was found not guilty [13]
In July 2024, in a civil action in the High Court, a jury ordered McGahon to pay €39,000 over the assault in June 2018.[14]