G. V. Wright

Thomas Wright, usually referred to by the nickname G.V., (born 3 August 1947) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency.^[1]

G. V. Wright
Leader of the Seanad
In office February 1992 – December 1994
Taoiseach	Albert Reynolds
Preceded by	Seán Fallon
Succeeded by	Maurice Manning
Teachta Dála
In office June 1997 – May 2007
In office February 1987 – June 1989
Constituency	Dublin North
Seanad Éireann
In office October 1989 – June 1997
In office May 1982 – December 1982
Constituency	Nominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born	(1947-08-03) 3 August 1947 (age 76) Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil

Wright was born in Dublin in 1947. He was educated at Chanel College, Coolock in Dublin before becoming a food retailer. In his youth Wright played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team and was an international basketball player and coach. He first held public office in 1982, when he was nominated by the Taoiseach to Seanad Éireann. He remained there until 1983; however, he also entered local politics in 1985 as a member of Dublin County Council. He remained there until 2004 and is among those named by lobbyist Frank Dunlop at the investigating Mahon Tribunal as receiving donations from property developers.^{[citation needed]}

Wright was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election. He lost his seat at the 1989 general election but was again nominated to the Seanad where he served as Leader of Seanad Éireann (1991–1994) and Leader of Fianna Fáil in Seanad Éireann (1994–1997). During this time Wright failed again to obtain re-election to the Dáil. He finally succeeded at the 1997 general election and held his seat in another election in 2002.^[2]

In September 2003, as Wright drove home from Leinster House, his car collided with a female pedestrian at North Strand in Dublin causing multiple fractures to her leg. Tests confirmed that Wright's blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. As a result, he was fined and banned from driving for two years.^{[citation needed]}

He retired from politics at the 2007 general election.^[3]

In March 2012, the final report of the Mahon Tribunal found that Wright received a £5,000 "corrupt" payment from Christopher Jones in November 1992 in relation to the Ballycullen/Beechill rezoning projects.^[4] On 27 March 2012, Wright resigned from Fianna Fáil before he could be expelled.^[5]

References

1. "G. V. Wright". Oireachtas Members Database. from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
2. "G. V. Wright". ElectionsIreland.org. from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
3. "Fianna Fáil TD Wright to stand down". RTÉ News. 16 January 2006. from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
4. . Irish Independent. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
5. . RTÉ News. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.