Seamie O'Boyle

Seamie O'Boyle
Sligo County Councillor
In office
May 2014 – August 2015
Constituency Sligo
Personal details
Born 1957 or 1958
Died 11 August 2015
Sligo
Political party People Before Profit Alliance

Seamie O'Boyle (born 1957/58)[1] was a politician from Sligo who represented the Sligo local electoral area on Sligo County Council from 2014. He won his party's first ever seat outside Leinster. A prominent politician with a national profile, he died suddenly in 2015.[2] O'Boyle was a member of the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, the Regional Health Forum West, the Sligo Harbour Advisory Committee, the Sligo Music Fest Company and the Board of The Model.[3] He had also been a member of the Joint Policing Committee.[2]

Early life

O'Boyle was reared in Sligo's Nazareth House orphanage in the 1960s and referred to those there as his "Nazareth family".[4]

Political career

After having been almost elected to Sligo Borough Council in 2009, O'Boyle was elected to Sligo County Council for the People Before Profit Alliance in 2014, out-polling five sitting members of Sligo Borough Council, including the Mayor of Sligo, to become his party's first ever candidate elected in Sligo and the first outside Leinster.[2] According to analysis published by politics.ie, 75 per cent of his first preference vote came from the town area and acquired transfers from all corners.[2] After his election he served as Deputy Mayor of Sligo.[2] His work attracted praise from Bishop Christy Jones.[5]

Seamie died suddenly on the night of 11 August 2015 aged only in his late fifties after taking a heart attack while driving through Sligo.[2] Brought to Sligo Regional Hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.[2] O'Boyle had been organising Sligo's participation in the Right2Water anti-water tax demonstration which was to be held in Dublin shortly after he died.[2] His death received national attention and media coverage.[2][4][6][7][8] He had two bishops oversee his funeral.[4] A week previously he had led national tributes after a stabbing and murder in Holborn Street and a few days after that he had been present at a Civic Reception held for Olympic gold medalists at County Hall.[2] His funeral took place at Sligo Cathedral on 15 August 2015, after which he was buried in Sligo Cemetery.[2]

Sligo County Council co-opted his son Gino onto the council at its meeting on 14 September 2015, proposed by Councillor Declan Bree, seconded by Councillor Sean MacManus and unanimously agreed by members.[9][10]

Personal life

O'Boyle had lived at Forthill in Sligo for three decades before his death.[2] He coached his local soccer team and supported Sligo Rovers Football Club in the national league.[4][1][11] The club wore black armbands in his memory after his death.[4] A married man, he had two sons and two daughters.[1][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Deering, Paul (5 September 2015). "Gino set to succeed late father on Council: People before profit choose son following untimely death of Seamie". Independent News & Media.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Shock sudden death of Seamie O'Boyle, aged 57". 12 August 2015. Just seven days ago O'Boyle himself was leading the tributes in national media after the stabbing and murder of Martin (Matt) Kivlehan in Holborn Street. Last Thursday he attended a Civic Reception at County Hall to mark Sligo's achievements at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles, the gold medals won by Margaret Carr and Thomas Connolly.
  3. ↑ "Bitter-sweet day for O'Boyle family as Gino is co-opted onto Sligo County Council". 14 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Councillor and campaigner whose compassion was forged by his tough early years". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. 29 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Council meeting postponed as mark of respect to Cllr Seamie O'Boyle". 9 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Órla (11 August 2015). "Councillor dies of suspected heart attack while driving". TheJournal.ie.
  7. ↑ Harkin, Greg (11 August 2016). "County councillor dies after suffering suspected heart attack in car". Irish Independent.
  8. ↑ "Sligo Co Councillor dies suddenly". RTÉ News. 12 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Councillor Gino O'Boyle co-opted by Council". 15 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Gino to follow in late father's footsteps". 1 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "About Us". Glenview Stars. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
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