Flor O'Mahony

Florence O'Mahony (23 January 1946 – 28 July 2023) was an Irish politician. A member of the Labour Party, he was a senator in the 1980s, and was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

O'Mahony later came to prominence as a lobbyist and publicist for the tobacco industry.

Early life O'Mahony was born in Dalkey, Dublin on 23 January 1946. His father was from Ballyhea in County Kerry. He attended Presentation College in Glasthule and University College Dublin (UCD), graduating with a degree in English literature and economics. He joined the Labour Party during his time in UCD.

However, in 1981 he was elected on the Administrative Panel to the 15th Seanad, and was re-elected twice, serving until the dissolution of the 17th Seanad in 1987.

Lobbyist After leaving politics, O'Mahony became a public affairs consultant in 1989. He was also an Associate Lecturer in European Studies at the Institute of Public Administration in Dublin.

O'Mahony later became known as the "public face" of the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee (ITMAC), of which he was director and which shared an office in Dublin with O'Mahony's company CIPA; in 1992 O'Mahony's name was recorded as the donor of IR£3,000 donated to the Progressive Democrats on behalf of ITMAC. As a lobbyist against plans for legislation to protect workers against passive smoking, O'Mahony was named in 1999 as having been involved in lobbying by ITMAC which Dr Fenton Howell, vice-president of the Irish Medical Organisation, claimed "secretly manipulated and misled a group advising the minister for health on new smoking regulations". After hearing O'Mahony's evidence, the chairman Batt O'Keeffe told Mahony that some of the points made about his conduct were "well-founded", and recommended that "in future deliberations he would be conscious of the public interest and people's health". Howell told a sub-committee in 2001 that O'Mahony had been "less than candid in his replies" to the committee.

O'Mahony was one of three former senior officials of the Irish Labour Party reported to have had ties with the tobacco industry.

Personal life and death O'Mahony met his wife Judy during his final year at UCD. The couple had four children.