Joe Higgins

Joe Higgins (born 20 May 1949) is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997 to 2007. He was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 2009 to 2011, the first Socialist Party MEP.

Early life

One of nine children of a small farming family, he was born in 1949 in Lispole, part of the Dingle Gaeltacht in County Kerry. He went to school in the Dingle Christian Brothers School, and after finishing he enrolled in the priesthood. As part of his training he was sent to a Catholic seminary school in Minnesota, United States in the 1960s.

It was against the backdrop of anti-Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement that Higgins was politicised. He is a brother of Liam Higgins, who played football with the Kerry GAA senior team in the 1960s and 1970s.

Higgins is bilingual in English and Irish.

Joe Higgins (Gaelic footballer)

Joe Higgins is a former Gaelic footballer from County Laois.

Higgins played for St Josephs GAA club. He played at corner back for Laois and in 2003 won an All Stars Award and was part of the Laois team that won the Leinster Senior Football Championship title for the first time since 1946.

Higgins emerged on to the scene in 1997 as part of the Laois minor team that retained the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship title.

In 1998, Higgins added a Leinster U21 Football Championship title to his list of honours.

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