About Paul
Personal Details
NB - This latest website version was first created in October 2022. Previous material is no longer available (although Paul's Facebook page archives back to 2010). From April 2020 until 2022, this paulgogarty.com website was used as a dedicated Covid-19 support and resource page, including links to the Lucan, Palmerstown and North Clondalkin Gofers service, emergency numbers, local retail outlets and other supports.
Paul Gogarty is an elected member of South Dublin County Council who topped the poll in the Lucan Electoral Area in May 2019 and whose Area Committee covers Lucan, North Clondalkin and Palmerstown. As a Dáil candidate he also works on behalf of the communities of Brittas, Clondalkin, Newcastle, Rathcoole and Saggart. He is married with three children and lives in Lucan.
Paul served as a Green Party TD for Dublin Mid West from 2002-2011 and was Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education. He has been a Councillor from 1999-2002 and again since 2014, including a term as Mayor of South Dublin.
He is currently an Independent public representative but retains a strong interest in Green issues along with his day to day Council work.
Paul is also a graduate of the School of Journalism at the College of Commerce, Rathmines (now DIT Aungier Street). He worked as a journalist and editor for many years before he became an elected representative. He has been published in the Sunday Times, the Irish Times, the Financial Times’ Think Ireland Inc supplement etc, as well as appearing on broadcast media, but has mainly worked in business publications in areas related to manufacturing, technology and food.
Hobbies and Interests
Paul is a great lover of music, an occasional writer of poetry and loves to play football when he can. He is a former GAA player and avid Dubs supporter. He once played in Old Trafford against the UK parliament. He has a keen interest in all sports and cycles regularly.
Music
His Sweet Surprise
Music is Paul’s favourite activity outside of politics. He is a singer/songwriter who busked in Dublin for 15 years. He released an album under the stage name “His Sweet Surprise” in 2013 and six singles in total. One song, “Know You All My Life” was single of the week on Ocean FM and went to No.1 on the 7 Digital download chart. Other releases include the anti-drug song “Molly Is A Liar”, the bittersweet "Dream Within A Dream" and the catchy, nostalgic “Radio”. All songs were taken down off commercial release during the 2014-2019 period, but have been available again since 2020 as a complilation singles, remix and extended versions album. The last song released was the standalone "Christmas Keep Your Distance" in 2020. A large number of songs have been written in preparation for a second album, depending on time commitments and new single releases are planned for later in 2023.
His music is available on a variety of platforms including Spotify and Bandcamp.
Vegan Cookery
Keeping it hearty
Paul has been vegan or vegetarian for most of his life. As such he learned to cook for himself from an early age and this developed into a love of healthy but tasty food. His signature dishes are hearty vegan stew, vegetable dahl curry and a chili “non carne”. He also likes to bake but admits his children are way better at this than he is. His vegan sausages got the seal of approval on “Celebrity ICA Boot Camp”, and helped him raise money for Pieta House. He remains way too fond of dark chocolate, jalepenos and crisp sandwiches.
Sport
A team player
Paul is a great lover of sport, who ran at schools level and played GAA for many years. He still manages to go for the odd cycle, walk or 6-a-side game when he can and also tries his hand regularly at stand up paddle boarding (SUP). Paul has a keen interest in sports psychology and in keeping young people active and involved in sport right through to adulthood. He is outspoken on issues of respect for young players and fair treatment in terms of playing time as they develop. He is currently a mentor at juvenile level in his local GAA club. and actively supports as many local sports clubs as he can through his political work. He once took part in RTE’s “Celebrity Bainisteoir” with Oughterard, reaching the final, where the team lost out in extra time to a team led by Tony Cascarino.
Other interests...
Paul loves to read fiction, current affairs and history. He listens to the radio and podcasts and reads newspapers as part of his work and for pleasure. He likes a good movie or series. He still watches terrestrial channels but like most people he also has his favourite shows on streaming sites. His tastes include horror, crime, fantasy and sci-fi and he is a lifelong lover of Star Trek and Star Wars.
