Bride and joy for the Healy Raes
THERE won’t be a pothole filled in Kerry this weekend as the Healy-Rae family gathered to celebrate the wedding of TD Michael’s daughter Juliette.
A very happy father of the bride Michael Healy-Rae was in fine form as he welcomed guests to Kilgarvan Church yesterday, for his daughter’s wedding to Patrick Dennehy from Sneem.
He planted a kiss on his daughter’s cheek after walking her up the aisle, and was delighted to pose for photos along with his wife Eileen, second daughter Rosie and sons Jackie Jr, Kevin and Ian.
Youngest son of the late Jackie Healy-Rae, Michael, 57, is the most prominent of the Kilgarvan political dynasty, serving as an Independent TD for Kerry since 2011.
His elder brother Danny has been an Independent TD for Kerry since 2016. On TV3’s Living With Lucy, Michael recently revealed that he deserved an award for ‘worst father’ due to his commitments as a politician and that he had his wife, Eileen, to thank for looking after their children.
‘If there was a nomination going for probably the worst father I would have known, I’d nominate myself,’ he told Lucy. ‘I was never at home. And when I say I was never at home, I’m not exaggerating. I was away seven days a week,’ he said.
After topping the poll in 1997, and sealing a deal to support a Fianna Fáil-led coalition, Jackie Healy-Rae, the late dynasty’s patriarch famously said: ‘We’ll open a few dykes and we’ll fill a few potholes and we’ll work for the ordinary people of south Kerry.’
Last month, Michael said: ‘We have roads in our county would be only comparable to roads in war-torn countries.’