Ten former TDs who left politics after the 2024 general election are now involved in lobbying current politicians and Government officials.

They include former ministers Joe O’Brien and Josepha Madigan as well as prominent figures such as Marc MacSharry and Seán Sherlock.

Lobbying can involve seeking clarification on, or attempting to influence, State policy.

The former politicians involved in such work are able to draw on vast experience of how Government and politics operate.

An examination of the Register of Lobbying shows that they represent a wide range of sectors, from property development to non-governmental organisations and from sports bodies to pharmaceutical companies.

Under lobbying rules, former senior and junior ministers are subject to a one-year cooling-off period before they can do this work. The restriction does not apply to former TDs who were not office holders.

Former ministers can apply to the State’s public ethics watchdog, the Standards in Public Office Commission, to ask that the cooling-off period be waived.

So who are the politicians-turned-lobbyists making money for outside interests after their time in Dáil Éireann and what are they trying to push their influence on?

Joe O’Brien

Joe O’Brien was a Green Party TD for Dublin Fingal between 2019 and 2024. During that time, he served as a junior minister across three departments – Rural and Community Development, Social Protection in addition to Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

He lost his seat in the 2024 general election and his role as Minister of State ended in January 2025 upon the formation of the new Government.

He is now the executive director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), landing the job after a competitive recruitment process. He was appointed in April 2025 after successfully applying to the Standards in Public Office Commission to have the lobbying cooling-off period waived, though certain conditions were attached, including that he refrain from lobbying the three departments for which he had worked.

An ICCL statement said O’Brien “observed all the conditions of his cooling-off period, which ended on January 22nd, 2026 … We take our public role and obligations very seriously and ensure all our lobbying efforts are transparently recorded in the lobbying register.”

O’Brien’s lobbying includes a June 2025 meeting with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan on “justice policy priorities” including facial recognition technology, the right to protest, international protection and the role of juries.

Marc MacSharry

Former Sligo-Leitrim TD Marc MacSharry has forged a new career in consultancy work, setting up a company, Pontis Advisory Ltd, early last year after 20 years in the Oireachtas.

The outspoken TD, who left Fianna Fáil in 2022 after an internal row, announced in 2023 that he would step down from politics when the general election was held.

Returns to the lobbying register show property development firm Beldare Homes and frozen fish company Atlantic Dawn Group among Pontis Advisory’s clients.

Lobbying activity disclosed includes emailing Minister for Housing James Browne on behalf of Beldare Homes about the “need for additional zoning”.

MacSharry said he advised people on navigating regulatory and legislative processes and “how best they can make their case” on issues relevant to their business.

He said he complied with disclosure requirements, saying the lobbying register was “vitally important” to the integrity of industry and “our democratic process”.

Brendan Griffin

Former Kerry Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin, who was Minister of State for tourism and sport between 2017 and 2020, has worked as a senior adviser with Hanover Communications since last year.

He announced in 2023 that he would not stand in the next general election, saying politics was “a job that takes you away from home and loved ones for long periods of time”.

Griffin’s work with Hanover includes lobbying on behalf of the Federation of Irish Sport.

Returns to the lobbying register also list other clients, including Tigers Childcare and pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Ferring (Ireland) Ltd.

Alan Farrell

Alan Farrell, a long-time Dublin Fingal TD, was announced as a senior director of government affairs and policy with Liquid Gas Ireland (LGI) in May last year.

The Fine Gael backbencher was first elected to the Dáil in 2011 and held his seat in the following two general elections, but lost out in 2024.

His lobbying activity includes seeking a meeting with Fianna Fáil Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien, a former constituency rival, to discuss “the key policy priorities” for LGI.

According to the return on the Register of Lobbying, LGI wanted to focus discussions on “delivering a just transition for rural homes and businesses”.

Josepha Madigan

Former Fine Gael minister Josepha Madigan started work as a lobbyist this year.

She said she has a portfolio of different types of work, adding that this “is quite normal for a lot of former politicians and it makes it very interesting”.

The former Dublin Rathdown TD has a background as a family law solicitor and said her primary role now was in mediation, including in the areas of employment and medical negligence.

Previously minister for culture, Madigan resigned as junior minister for special education in March 2024, announcing she would step down from politics at the election.

Madigan’s first lobbying register return was on behalf of Vida Care, a company with an ambition to open a network of health screening centres countrywide.

She arranged a meeting between Vida Care and officials from Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan’s department.

The company’s chief executive, Conor Kelly, said the context of the meeting was “to ask whether Vida Care could rent space on Sports Campus Ireland to provide health and cardiac screening to clubs and athletes”.

Madigan’s other return to the register concerned a meeting between Melvin Properties and Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare. The listed intended result was “discussion around zoning for residential projects”.

Seán Sherlock

Former Labour Party TD for Cork East Seán Sherlock announced he would not contest the 2024 general election after a constituency boundary change that meant much of his support base shifted to Cork North-Central.

Last month, he was appointed as director of policy and regulation for solar power industry representative organisation Solar Ireland.

Sherlock has not featured in its lobbying register declarations yet but is set to in future as his role “will involve meetings with Ministers and various public officials who are designated under the legislation”.

He said he was “proud” to be part of an organisation whose goal is energy transition. And he would use his experience to advocate for the solar sector, particularly in the context of the State’s climate action targets.

Neasa Hourigan

Neasa Hourigan lost her Dáil seat for Dublin Central in the 2024 general election as part of the near wipeout of Green Party TDs after its stint in government.

Hourigan is now a policy officer at the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

A Register of Lobbying return by the RIAI indicates she attended separate meetings with Sinn Féin Housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin and Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe, with her organisation “advocating to reform public procurement policy”.

Ciarán Cannon

Former Fine Gael TD and minister of State Ciarán Cannon retired from politics at the 2024 general election. In 2025, the keen cyclist became president of the sport governing body, Cycling Ireland.

He has not been engaged in lobbying as yet, but said he would be “consistently advocating” for greater investment in the sport, particularly facilities for young people, and expects his name will appear on the lobbying register in the future.

Jackie Cahill

Former Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary Jackie Cahill was involved with farming organisations before his election to the Dáil in 2016. His name appears as part of a Veterinary Ireland’s return to the lobbying register seeking the passing of proposed legislation first proposed by Cahill – the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021. Cahill said the goal of the legislation was to prevent corporations from buying out local veterinary practices.

Charlie Flanagan

Charlie Flanagan served in several portfolios, including justice, during 36 years as a TD, with his last ministerial term ending in 2020. He retired from frontline politics at the election.

Flanagan became chairman of the Irish Red Cross (IRC) last May. An IRC return to the lobbying register indicated an “informal communication” Flanagan had with Minister of State at the Department of Rural Development Jerry Buttimer. The goal of this was for consideration to be given to extending the Clár funding programme to “allow more IRC branches to apply for support in the future”.

Flanagan said that as IRC chairman, he regularly engaged with Ministers but added: “I don’t anticipate lobbying. I am very conscious of the regulatory framework and obligations therein.”