Jim D’Arcy appointed advisor to Taoiseach on North and Brexit
FORMER Louth Senator Jim D’Arcy has been appointed as a Special Adviser to the Taoiseach, it emerged last week.
The Department of the Taoiseach confirmed the appointment to the Argus, advising that the Blackrock native will be paid on the ‘Assistant Principal’ salary scale.
This could represent a salary of up to €75,000 for his work as an adviser to Leo Varadkar.
A spokesperson said: ‘ Jim will be advising on Northern Ireland, border issues and Brexit. He will work with the British Irish section of the department in relation to Northern Ireland.’
‘Jim has an excellent understanding of border issues and the potential impact of Brexit. He worked with the council of Europe for the last five years on election monitoring in the Ukraine, Syria and Turkey.’
The spokesperson continued ‘He has a wide range of contacts across politics and the public sphere in the North and border areas, and served on the Oireachtas All Party Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday agreement.’
The 63 year old is former principal of Dulargy N.S in Ravensdale and Bellurgan N.S.
He has a long history in politics,having first been elected to Louth County Council in 1999, and to Dundalk Town Council in 2004, and served on both bodies until 2011.
He unsuccessfully contested the Louth constituency at the 2007 general election.
In May 2011, he was nominated by the then Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad.
He was the Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Education and Skills during his term, and continued in his work as a Senator until May 2016, also campaigning on many local issues including the Narrow Water bridge.