Laois TD Brian Stanley was Sinn Féin's electoral poster boy

Brian Stanley watches his then party leader Gerry Adams on TV on his first Laois Offaly General Election victory in 2011. Pic: Alf Harvey

placeholder image — Brian Stanley watches his then party leader Gerry Adams on TV on his first Laois Offaly General Election victory in 2011. Pic: Alf Harvey

Portlaoise councillor turned TD with one of the biggest jobs in Irish politics

Brian Stanley was arguably the most unlikely of poster boys politically for Sinn Féin.

He was the first generation of Republicans south of the border to embrace and succeed in electoral politics in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement.

Not a brilliant media performer, his building up of a political base from the grassroots made him a model for many other aspiring TDs. His success in a county of traditional big party voters showed Sinn Féin’s leadership that it could be a force in Irish politics in the Republic.

He was first elected to the Portlaoise Town Council in 1999 in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement with 430 first preference votes. While he didn’t win a seat on Laois County Council that year, his election was a breakthrough for a party moving away from the infamous ‘Armalite in one hand and ballot box in the other’.

Proof of his popularity was in evidence in 2002 when he contested his first General Election. He secured a respectable 2,600 number-one votes in an election that saw Charlie Flanagan lose his seat. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pic: Brian Stanley celebrates with his wife Caroline Dwane Stanley on her re-election to Laois County Council at the 2024 Local Elections county in Portlaoise. Pic: Alf Harvey

Dep Stanley secured his first major breakthrough at the 2004 local elections. He retained his seat on Portlaoise Town Council and won a seat on the County Council to which he was elected on the first count with 1,020 first preference votes.

The then councillor was back contesting for a Dáil seat in 2007 when he increased his first preference vote to 3,656. The Laois Offaly election was notable for the 19,102 number ones secured by future Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

He was returned comfortably to Laois County Council in 2009 when he secured 1,456 first preference votes.

A decade of groundwork combined with the Fianna Fáil collapse saw him winning a Dáil seat for Sinn Féin in 2011. He won the seat of outgoing FF Minister of State John Moloney. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured: Brian Stanley with Mary Lou McDonald in Portlaoise when they were both in Sinn Féin.

The seat vacated in the council would be filled by his wife Caroline Dwane Stanley who has held it comfortably since.

He was safely returned in 2016 when Laois was a standalone three-seat constituency. He is credited for playing a part in Sinn Féin winning one of the three seats in Offaly at the same election.

He reached the apex of his career to date by topping the poll at the 2020 General Election when Laois and Offaly were reunited as five-seat constituency. The massive 16,654 was secured without the party running a candidate in Offaly.

His most turbulent time in national politics came not after being elected in 2020. At the time he just about survived as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after his party leader stood by him. His problems centred on a tweet that referenced the Narrow Water Ambush by the IRA in 1979 which killed several British soldiers.

He rose to prominence nationally through the PAC, especially through the high-profile appearance of Ryan Tubridy and RTÉ in 2023.