Joe Costello (politician)
Political career
Political career
----------------

[thumb\|left\|Costello's office in 2007](/wiki/File:Joe_Costello%27s_office.jpg "Joe Costello's office.jpg")

In 1985, along with [Tony Gregory](/wiki/Tony_Gregory "Tony Gregory") and [Christy Burke](/wiki/Christy_Burke "Christy Burke"), Costello was arrested for protesting alongside market traders against casual trading legislation that had been introduced; he spent a week in prison.

He joined the [Labour Party](/wiki/Labour_Party_%28Ireland%29 "Labour Party (Ireland)") in 1985, and first stood for the party in the [1987 general election](/wiki/1987_Irish_general_election "1987 Irish general election"); contesting the Dublin Central constituency, he received 3\.2% of the vote (1,305 votes) and was the final candidate eliminated in the constituency. In 1989 he was elected to the [19th Seanad](/wiki/19th_Seanad "19th Seanad") as a Senator for the [Administrative Panel](/wiki/Administrative_Panel "Administrative Panel"). He remained there until the [1992 general election](/wiki/1992_Irish_general_election "1992 Irish general election") when he was elected to [Dáil Éireann](/wiki/D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann "Dáil Éireann"). Costello lost his seat at the [1997 general election](/wiki/1997_Irish_general_election "1997 Irish general election") but was subsequently elected to the Seanad again. Costello was re\-elected to the Dáil at the [2002](/wiki/2002_Irish_general_election "2002 Irish general election") and [2007](/wiki/2007_Irish_general_election "2007 Irish general election") general elections.

He was a member of Dublin City Council from 1999 until the end of the dual mandate led to him passing the seat to his wife [Emer Costello](/wiki/Emer_Costello "Emer Costello"). He was re\-elected to the council in [2019](/wiki/2019_Dublin_City_Council_election "2019 Dublin City Council election").

He was director of elections for [Michael D. Higgins](/wiki/Michael_D._Higgins "Michael D. Higgins") during the [2011 presidential election](/wiki/2011_Irish_presidential_election "2011 Irish presidential election").

On 20 December 2011, he was appointed by the [Fine Gael–Labour government](/wiki/29th_Government_of_Ireland "29th Government of Ireland") as [Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade](/wiki/Minister_of_State_at_the_Department_of_Foreign_Affairs "Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs") with responsibility for Trade and Development, a position he served in until 15 July 2014\. He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014\. He was then appointed to the Dáil [Public Accounts Committee](/wiki/Public_Accounts_Committee_%28Ireland%29 "Public Accounts Committee (Ireland)").

At a [Sinn Féin](/wiki/Sinn_F%C3%A9in "Sinn Féin") organised boxing charity fundraiser on 15 February 2014, Costello and his wife took a photo with gangland criminal [Gerry Hutch](/wiki/Gerry_Hutch "Gerry Hutch"). On 14 February 2016, 16 days before the [2016 general election](/wiki/2016_Irish_general_election "2016 Irish general election") (in which Costello was a candidate), the *[Irish Daily Mail](/wiki/Irish_Daily_Mail "Irish Daily Mail")* published an article titled "Hypocrisy", calling Costello a hypocrite for condemning gang violence after the death of Edward Hutch (Gerry Hutch's brother) but being seen in a photograph with gang leaders. Costello responded: "...there were dozens of photographs taken. People were constantly coming in behind us into the photographs. I had no idea who was in that particular photo except myself, my wife and the lady in the front". [Joan Burton](/wiki/Joan_Burton "Joan Burton"), the then [Tánaiste](/wiki/T%C3%A1naiste "Tánaiste") defended him and said "politicians do not know everyone they take photos with". Costello then sued the *Irish Daily Mail* for defamation. In May 2019, the case was settled and the *Irish Daily Mail* read out an apology to Costello and his wife in court.

In October 2015 on the "Saturday with Claire Byrne" [RTÉ](/wiki/RT%C3%89 "RTÉ") radio show, Costello mistakenly referred to Nicky Kehoe (a one\-time [Provisional IRA](/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army "Provisional Irish Republican Army") member and the Sinn Féin director of elections) as the "IRA's former chief of staff in Dublin" but made sure not to name him. The producer of the radio show pressed the "talk back button" which is a button that alerts the presenter ([Claire Byrne](/wiki/Claire_Byrne "Claire Byrne")) to intervene. Byrne did not intervene and Sinn Féin member, [Eoin Ó Broin](/wiki/Eoin_%C3%93_Broin "Eoin Ó Broin") began defending Kehoe, accidentally naming him. Costello then backed down on his claim about Kehoe's high\-profile involvement in the IRA. Kehoe responded to the incident by suing RTÉ for defamation. In February 2018, the court proceedings began. The jury found RTÉ was 35% at fault and Costello was 65%. Kehoe was awarded €3,500\. In 2020, Costello sued the state and RTÉ because he wasn't invited to the court proceedings effectively denying him the right to defend himself, breaching the European Convention on Human Rights.

He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Central constituency at the 2020 general election.

He was deputy [Lord Mayor of Dublin](/wiki/Lord_Mayor_of_Dublin "Lord Mayor of Dublin") from 2021 to 2022\. In July 2023, he announced his retirement from politics, Deborah Byrne was selected by the Labour party to replace him.


What were the consequences for Ireland due to Joe Costello's actions?