Joe Behan

Joe Behan (born 30 July 1959) is an Irish politician. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 2007 to 2011. He was elected as a TD at the 2007 general election.

A former teacher and primary school principal from Bray, Behan was a long-serving member of Bray Town Council and Wicklow County Council, winning and holding his seat at the 1999 and 2004 local elections. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election.

On 17 October 2008 he resigned from Fianna Fáil in protest at the 2009 Budget. In his letter of resignation he stated: "I intend to adopt an independent stance on each and every issue which comes before the Dáil from now on." He stood for re-election in Wicklow at the 2011 general election as an independent, but lost his seat receiving 6% of the first preference vote, down from 14.5% in 2007. He was elected to Wicklow County Council on the first count, getting 1,776 (just over 14%) first preference votes, 384 more than the quota.

He was an independent candidate for the Wicklow constituency at the 2016 general election but was not elected. He was re-elected to Wicklow County Council in the 2019 local elections on the first count, having topped the poll in Bray East with 1,880 (just under 29%) first preference votes.

Behan stood as an independent in Wicklow for the 2020 general election. He received 2,988 first preference votes (4.2%) and was eliminated on the 13th count.