Maurice Quinlivan, (57), first entered the Dáil in 2016 becoming the first TD for the constituency for modern Sinn Féin and re-gained his seat in 2020, topping the poll then and nudging his arch political rival Willie O’Dea off the top spot.

Quinlivan had run unsuccessfully in 2011 after being elected to Limerick City Council in 2009.

A former travel agent, he previously lived and worked in London for a time, where he developed his political aspirations with Sinn Féin.

His brother, Nessan Quinlivan, was a member of the Provisional IRA and escaped Brixton Prison in 1991 along with the late IRA Garda killer Pearse McAuley, of Strabane, who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the manslaughter of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, in June 1996.

Maurice Quinlivan has chaired meetings of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment and has built a massive base in Limerick City’s working class communities, particularly in his home area of Ballynanty Beg.