WEXFORD FINE GAEL TD Paul Kehoe has said he does not intend to run for re-election in the next general election.

Addressing Fine Gael supporters in Wexford this evening, Kehoe said “this has been a very difficult decision to make but I feel that now is the right time for me and my family”.

First elected to the Dáil in 2002, Kehoe has been a TD ever since and has previously served as Government Chief Whip and Minister for state at the Department of Defence. 

Kehoe told supporters at the Wexford Fine Gael Constituency AGM that he hoped he had repaid the faith the support they had given him. 

“The Wexford Fine Gael organisation put their faith in me by selecting me to run in the 2002 General Election and I hope that I have repaid that faith over the past 22 years as a TD for the constituency,” he said.

“I have worked tirelessly for my constituents helping thousands of people, businesses and organisations throughout County Wexford and am grateful to my staff who have worked with me through the years in doing so.

“I know that Wexford is in a better place than when I was first elected. There’s always more to do but progress in the last two decades has been immense with many more exciting plans ahead.”

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar paid tribute to Kehoe’s political career and described him as a personal friend and political ally. 

“Paul has served five terms in Dáil Éireann and has never lost an election. When I was first elected to the Dáil, Paul was Fine Gael Chief Whip.

“I got to know him really well first on the Front Bench and then as Ministers who sat next to each other at the cabinet table during the 2011-16 Government. We came from very different backgrounds but we quickly became personal friends and political allies. 

Varadkar praised the “pivotal” role that Kehoe played in Fine Gael as chief whip under Enda Kenny, which he said was “under-estimated” and “known only to his closest colleagues”.

“I was honoured to re-re-appoint him to Cabinet in 2017 as Minister with Responsibility for Defence and in 2020 to the Chairmanship of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education,” Varadkar said. 

“I wish Paul the very best in whatever he decides to do next. He is a man not to be under-estimated, is a good judge of character and understands how politics is done.”

The Taoiseach said that selecting candidates to run in what will be two seperate Wexford constituencies come the next general election will take place in the coming months.