John McGahon


John McGahon is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel since the 2020 Seanad election.
McGahon is from Dundalk, County Louth and attended Dundalk Grammar School. He obtained a BA in history and politics from University College Dublin. His father Johnny McGahon was a member of Dundalk town council from 1999 to 2004. Johnny's brother Brendan McGahon was a TD for Louth from 1982 to 2002.
John McGahon was first elected to Louth County Council for the Dundalk–Carlingford local electoral area in 2014, retaining his seat in 2019. He stood unsuccessfully in Louth in the February 2020 Dáil election.
On 31 March 2020, McGahon was elected to Seanad Éireann following the 2020 election to the upper house.

Assault allegations

McGahon is awaiting trial for an alleged assault in his home town of Dundalk. He was asked by his party not to stand in the election due to the assault charge hanging over him but ran anyway. In an interview to LMFM in October 2018 he admitted that he had been involved in a fight and that he had a long-standing problem with alcohol. McGahon was dogged during the campaign by allegations of a further assault, this time during a music festival where he was accused of assaulting an unconscious man.