Former FF TD Colm Keaveney withdraws from local elections amid drug driving charge

Source: The Irish Times

Galway councillor (53) accused of driving under the influence of cocaine in June 2023

Former TD Colm Keaveney has withdrawn from the local elections amid accusations of driving under the influence of cocaine,

Colm Keaveney, a former Labour and Fianna Fáil TD, is a councillor on Galway County Counci since 2019.

He has told Fianna Fáil that he is withdrawing. The party has confirmed that sitting councillors Mary Hoade, Donagh Killilea and Joe Sheridan go forward in the Tuam electoral area, along with a fourth candidate Tom Quirke.

Cllr Keaveney was first elected to the Dáil as a Labour candidate in 2011. He then became an Independent before joining Fianna Fáil in 2013.

He lost his Dáil seat in 2016 but was elected to Galway County Council as a Fianna Fáil candidate in 2019, with the party holding four of the seven seats in the Tuam area.

The 53-year-old, with an address at Kilcreevanty, is before the courts on a charge of driving under the influence of cocaine in his system. The offence is alleged to have happened on June 12th last year at Cummer in Tuam, Co Galway.

It is alleged he drove a vehicle with cocaine in his system and that the concentration of the drug - known as Benzoylecgonine - in his blood was greater than the legal threshold, contrary to the Road Traffic Act of 2010.

The case came before the courts initially in January and again last week. The county councillor was not in court for either of the two brief hearings.

The matter is due before Tuam District Court on June 11th for a plea or a date for hearing.