5 things you may not know about Ciaran Cuffe

By William Nestor

Green Party junior minister Ciarán Cuffe has got a rap on the hand from the Oireachtas just before all the TDs toddle off on their summer holidays.

Mr Cuffe apologised for taking photographs in the Dáil bar and posting them on his Twitter account last week. It showed how green Mr Cuffe really is that he claimed he rarely frequented the Dáil bar and did not know that taking photographs was off limits.

"I am not in the bar that often. I genuinely didn't know it was an offence," he said.

The junior minister is currently drafting new laws to cut down on neighbourhood noises. The Noise Bill will be finished in the autumn, when it will be debated in the Dáil.

If passed, the Bill will empower Gardaí to clamp down on late-night house parties, noisy house alarms, barking dogs and builders working at unsocial hours.

Sounds like Ciarán is bit of a party-pooper. Anyway, here are five things you may not know about the Green man:

1. Ciaran cycled coast-to-coast across the United States.

Rain, hail or snow Ciarán makes it to the Dáil every day on his bicycle (pictured above). He’s an avid cyclist and is a member of the Dublin Cycling Campaign. Back in the day, Ciarán mounted his bike and completed a coast-to-coast cycle across the US.

2. Ciarán has a degree in architecture.

He has degrees in architecture and town planning from University College Dublin, and lectured in urban planning at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, prior to his election to the Dáil. A smart lad, so it seems.

3. Ciarán inherited $1.3 million.

In June 2003, he stepped down as the Green party's environment spokesperson after it was revealed that he held shares worth €55,600 in a number of oil exploration companies, which he had inherited when his late mother had left him over €1m in her will. He was re-elected at the 2007 general election.

4. Ciarán attends Oxegen every year.*

The junior minister never fails to turn up at Punchestown for the annual Oxegen Festival. His attendance each year stretches back to the days when it was the Witness Festival. Ciarán can always be found in the mosh-pit and is a huge fan of Muse and Kasabian.

5. Ciarán is related to Bobby Kennedy.

Ciarán's mother was Ethel Skakel Kennedy's sister. His cousins include the children of Skakel and Robert F. Kennedy. His granduncle was the Fianna Fáil TD Patrick Little.

*Fact 4 may or may not be made up. Fine, it is.