First TD to be elected in 2024 General Election has Offaly connections

THE first TD to be returned to Dail Eireann in the 2024 General Election – Jennifer Carroll MacNeill – has close family connections to Offaly.

The Fine Gael TD has served as Minister of State for European Affairs since 2024. She previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 2022 to 2024. She has been a TD for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since the 2020 general election.

Ms Carroll MacNeill's father Denis grew up in Tullamore and was the First manager of the local credit union in the early 1960s when he served on a voluntary basis. Her uncle is business man Paul Carroll.

She was the guest of honour at a function to mark Tullamore Credit Union's 60^th anniversary in 2023. Both her grandfather and father played a role in its establishment.
At the event she recalled how her father was the first manager of Tullamore Credit Union on a voluntary basis in 1963 at a time when her grandfather John Carroll was also a director.
“My granddad John Carroll among other people saw the need and the opportunity for a Credit Union in Tullamore and came together and did all of the hard yards and volunteering to put it together,” she said.
Des Smyth was identified as the man for the managerial role but before he could take up the position Denis Carroll had the job of opening up the fledgling credit union, “9 to 5, five days a week during the summer to see would be people of Tullamore come in, would it work for them, was it something that was going to catch on”.
Minister Carroll MacNeill also pointed to another family connection. Her aunt, Anna Ryan, who was accompanied to the 60th anniversary celebration by her husband Ray, has the distinction of working in all three of the Tullamore locations over a 25-year span, O'Connor Square, High Street and Patrick Street.