Profile: Noel Grealish (Ind)

Noel Grealish (51) who has been returned as Independent TD for Galway West, was first elected as a Progressive Democrat TD in 2002. He was one of only two PDs returned in 2007, when the party lost six of its eight seats. He was PD chairman from June 2007 and its final leader, from March-November 2009, when it was disbanded. Grealish voted with the Fianna Fáil-Green coalition from 2007 until September 2010, when he pulled his support due to health cuts. He has been described as a "county councillor on a TD's salary", due to his focus on constituency issues and his low Dáil profile.