Liam Aylward

Liam Aylward (born 27 September 1952) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1977 to 2007, and an ALDE Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East constituency from 2004 to 2014,

Liam Aylward was born in Mullinavat, County Kilkenny in 1952. He was educated at St Kierans College, Kilkenny. He worked as a laboratory technician before getting involved in politics. He was elected to Kilkenny County Council in 1974, serving on that authority until 1992.

Aylward was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 1977 general election in what proved to be a landslide for Fianna Fáil. Since then he has served as Minister of State at the Department of Energy (1988–1989), at the Department of Education (1992–1994) and at the Department of Agriculture and Food (2002–2004). In 1998 Aylward was the subject of a complaint to Oireachtas authorities for groping a female usher in the Dáil bar, for which he apologised. In 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament in the East constituency for Fianna Fáil, which was then part of the Union for a Europe of Nations.