G. V. Wright

G. V. Wright
Leader of the Seanad
In office February 1992 – December 1994
Preceded by	Seán Fallon
Succeeded by	Maurice Manning
Teachta Dála
In office June 1997 – May 2007
In office February 1987 – June 1989
Constituency	Dublin North
Seanad Éireann
In office October 1989 – June 1997
In office May 1982 – December 1982
Constituency	Nominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born	(1947-08-03) 3 August 1947 Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil

Thomas Wright, usually referred to by the nickname G.V., (born 3 August 1947) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency.

Wright was born in Dublin in 1947. He was educated at Chanel College, Coolock in Dublin before becoming a food retailer. In his youth Wright was a Gaelic footballer with Dublin and was an international basketball player and coach. He first held public office in 1982, when he was nominated by the Taoiseach to Seanad Éireann. He remained there until 1983; however, he also entered local politics in 1985 as a member of Dublin County Council. He remained there until 2004 and is among those named by lobbyist Frank Dunlop at the investigating Mahon Tribunal as receiving donations from property developers.

Wright was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election. He lost his seat at the 1989 general election but was again nominated to the Seanad where he served as Leader of Seanad Éireann (1991–1994) and Leader of Fianna Fáil in Seanad Éireann (1994–1997). During this time Wright failed again to obtain re-election to the Dáil. He finally succeeded at the 1997 general election and held his seat in another election in 2002.

In September 2003, as Wright drove home from Leinster House, his car collided with a female pedestrian at North Strand in Dublin causing multiple fractures to her leg. Tests confirmed that Wright's blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. As a result he was fined and banned from driving for two years.

He retired from politics at the 2007 general election.

In March 2012, the final report of the Mahon Tribunal found that Wright received a £5,000 "corrupt" payment from Christopher Jones in November 1992 in relation to the Ballycullen/Beechill rezoning projects. On 27 March 2012, Wright resigned from Fianna Fáil before he could be expelled.

References

Oireachtas
Preceded by Nora Owen (Fine Gael)	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Dublin North 1987–1989	Succeeded by Seán Ryan (Labour Party)
Preceded by Seán Ryan (Labour Party)	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Dublin North 1997–2007	Succeeded by Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fáil)