Profile: Willie O’Dea (FF)

Born in 1952, Limerick’s “Stormin’ Norman” as he has been dubbed, Willie O’Dea is a qualified accountant and barrister. His huge personal vote has seen him top the poll in many of the recent general elections having first been elected to Dáil Éireann in 1982 and at each subsequent election. Following the founding of the PDs in 1985, O’Dea became the only FF TD in the five-seat Limerick constituency. He has served in a number of junior positions in cabinet and previously served as minister for defence but resigned in 2010 after the Green Party tabled a motion of “no confidence”.