Vincent P. Martin

{{about|the Irish Green Party politician|the Australian politician|Vince Martin (politician)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Vincent Martin 2020 cropped.jpg

| caption = Martin in 2020

| office1 = Senator

| term_start1 = 29 June 2020

| term_end1 = 31 January 2025

| constituency1 = Nominated by the Taoiseach

| birth_date = 1968 {{Citation needed|reason=Not clear whether this is addressed in any of the cited sources.|date=June 2023}}

| birth_place = Cavan, Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Green Party (since 2006)

| otherparty = Fianna Fáil ({{circa}} 1999)

| spouse = Hilda Cummins

| children = 2

| relatives = {{Ubl|Catherine Martin (sister)|Francis Noel Duffy (brother-in-law)}}

| education = St Macartan's College

| alma_mater = {{Ubl|University College Dublin|Maynooth University|King's Inns{{Cite news |url=http://www.northernstandard.ie/2017/10/13/carrick-barrister-is-made-senior-counsel/ |title=Carrick Barrister is made Senior Counsel|date=13 October 2017 |newspaper=The Northern Standard |location=Monaghan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114071807/http://www.northernstandard.ie/2017/10/13/carrick-barrister-is-made-senior-counsel/ |archive-date=14 November 2017}}}}

| website =

|}}

Vincent Peter Martin{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/calls-to-the-bar-michaelmas-term-8jbmn3bh2d5|title=Calls to the Bar: Michaelmas Term|website=The Times|date=26 November 2010}} (born 1968) is an Irish Green Party politician who served as a Senator from June 2020 to January 2025, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Vincent-P-Martin.S.2020-06-29/|title=Vincent P. Martin|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=7 July 2020}}

Early life

Martin was born in Cavan in 1968, but is a native of Carrickmacross, County Monaghan.{{cite news |last=O'Meara |first=Paul |date=27 June 2020 |title=Kildare Green Party's Cllr Vincent P Martin gets Senate seat in new government |url=https://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/news/554034/kildare-green-party-s-cllr-vincent-p-martin-gets-senate-seat-in-new-government-but-no-seat-at-cabinet-table-for-county.html |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-access=subscription}} The "P" in his name is a reference not only to his middle name (Peter) but to his grand-uncle, Vincent "Pepper" Martin, a Brooklyn-based professional boxer who once made an appearance on the front cover of The Ring, a well-known sports magazine.{{cite news |last=O'Meara |first=Paul |date=6 February 2020 |title=Vincent P. Martin is anything but green on the campaign trail |url=https://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/home/515049/its-easy-being-green-vincent-p-discovers.html |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-access=subscription |quote=The P in his name is a reference to his granduncle Vincent (Pepper) Martin, a US-based pro boxer who once figured on the front cover of Ring, the sport's prestigious magazine}} His sister, Catherine Martin, is the former deputy leader of the Green Party, whom Vincent recruited in. Previous to politics, Martin was a barrister by profession.{{cite news |date=9 November 2009 |title=Shock as Vincent P. Martin resigns |url=https://www.anglocelt.ie/2009/11/04/shock-as-vincent-p-martin-resigns/ |newspaper=The Anglo-Celt |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630012537/https://www.anglocelt.ie/2009/11/04/shock-as-vincent-p-martin-resigns/ |archive-date=30 June 2020}}

He is married to Hilda Cummins, and they have two children, a son and a daughter.{{Cite web|url=https://notices.irishtimes.com/?_fstatus=search;keywords=MARTIN+Hilda;source=all|title=Search family announcements - All notices|website=Notices.irishtimes.com|access-date=8 March 2022}}{{cite news |last=Sheahan |first=Fionnán |date=28 January 2020 |title=The Green Martin machine aiming to outdo Healy-Raes |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/election-2020/the-green-martin-machine-aiming-to-outdo-healy-raes-38901967.html |access-date=28 June 2020 |newspaper=Irish Independent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630080548/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/election-2020/the-green-martin-machine-aiming-to-outdo-healy-raes-38901967.html |archive-date=30 June 2020 }}

Political career

Martin began his political career in 1999 as a member of Carrickmacross Town Council. He was an independent candidate at the 2002 general election for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency. He received 1,943 (3.1%) first preference votes but was not elected.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=4749|title=Vincent P. Martin|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=24 November 2024}} He later became a Monaghan County Councillor in 2004 as an independent member, however, previous to this some sources have stated he was a member of Fianna Fáil.{{cite news |date=4 October 2018 |title=Versatile Vincent |url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/versatile-vincent/ |work=The Phoenix |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |date=13 February 2020 |title=Green Blueshirt Alliance|url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/green-blueshirt-alliance/|work=The Phoenix |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-access=subscription}}

He lost his seat on Monaghan County Council in 2009. He served in local politics for 10 years and he was noted as one of the few representatives at that time who advocated for Environmentalism and stood firm on decisions about planning permission. In 2006, this prompted then Green Party leader John Gormley to recruit Martin into the Green Party. He was a Green Party candidate at the 2007 general election for Cavan–Monaghan, receiving 2,382 (3.6%) first preference votes, but again was not elected.

In 2009, Martin stepped away from local politics to concentrate on being a barrister and to spend time with his new wife. He was expected to name fellow local Green Party member Darcy Lonergan as his replacement, but as Longeran was away studying in the United States, Vincent instead co-opted his sister Catherine into the position. Catherine vacated her seat upon the death of the Martins' mother and co-opted it to the returning Lonergan.{{cite news |date=5 May 2016 |title=Young Bloods – Catherine Martin |url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/young-bloods-catherine-martin/|work=The Phoenix |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-access=subscription}}

Martin remained out of politics for a decade. In that time he moved to Naas in County Kildare. In 2019, he returned to politics, topping the poll in the Naas local electoral area at the 2019 local elections.

At the 2020 general election, he ran as a Green Party candidate in Kildare North,{{cite news |last=Horgan-Jones |first=Jack |orig-date=18 January 2020 |date=4 February 2020 |title=Election 2020: Kildare North constituency profile |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/election-2020-kildare-north-constituency-profile-1.4144293 |work=Irish Times |access-date=12 February 2020 |quote=Martin is a brother to Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin, and topped the poll in Naas while two other Greens were elected in Maynooth and Celbridge.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208142047/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/election-2020-kildare-north-constituency-profile-1.4144293 |archive-date=8 February 2022 }} but was not elected. In June 2020, when the Green Party entered into government, Martin was nominated by the Taoiseach to the Seanad.{{cite news |title=Taoiseach Micheál Martin announces his 11 Seanad nominees |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/taoiseach-seanad-nominees-5135086-Jun2020/ |access-date=5 June 2021 |work=TheJournal.ie |date=27 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630023508/https://www.thejournal.ie/taoiseach-seanad-nominees-5135086-Jun2020/ |archive-date=30 June 2020}} He was one of only two men among the 11 nominees.{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Fiach |date=27 June 2020 |title=Nine of the 11 Taoiseach's appointees to the Seanad are women |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/nine-of-the-11-taoiseach-s-appointees-to-the-seanad-are-women-1.4290681 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=28 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210606045801/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/nine-women-among-taoiseach-s-11-appointees-to-seanad-1.4290681 |archive-date=6 June 2021 }}

Legal issues

On 9 February 2016, Martin drove his car through a red light at a pedestrian crossing in Dundrum, Dublin, striking a pram containing a baby; the child was thrown out of the pram onto the road but was not injured. The child's mother, Slovak-born Jana Novakova, suffered injuries to her right arm and shoulder, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. She sued for damages; the case was settled in the High Court in 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40989194.html|title=Green Party Senator settles case for driving BMW through red light into baby in a pram|first=Ann|last=O’Loughlin|date=21 October 2022|website=Irish Examiner}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/green-party-senator-who-broke-red-light-sued-in-high-court-by-injured-mother-of-two-who-saw-her-infant-thrown-from-pram-41744089.html|title=Green Party senator who broke red light sued in High Court by injured mother of two who saw her infant thrown from pram|work=Irish Independent|date=12 June 2022}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2022/10/21/settlement-reached-in-case-against-green-party-senator-who-hit-pram-after-driving-through-red-light/|title=Settlement reached in case against Green Party Senator who hit pram after driving through red light|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=21 October 2022}}