Michael McCarthy (born 15 November 1976) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-West constituency from 2011 to 2016.
[4] He was elected to Cork County Council in 1999 for the Skibbereen area, serving until 2003, having to resign as a sitting Oireachtas member as a result of the abolition of the dual mandate.
[12] The all-party parliamentary environment committee (chaired by McCarthy), which had been tasked with examining proposals for new climate change legislation, was divided on the issue of setting binding targets for emissions reductions for 2050.
The most controversial aspect of the Government proposal was that unlike the previous three efforts at legislation, no set targets were specified for greenhouse gas emissions reductions for 2050, or the intermediate stages in between.
The Irish Independent regarded the contest as a "two-horse race" between McCarthy and Alan Kelly, with the other candidates, Seán Sherlock and Ciara Conway, "lagging behind.".
He told the Irish Independent that threatening phone calls had been made to his constituency office following his criticism of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams' "five-star trip to the US" in an interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
[2] After losing his seat, he said to The Irish Times that "I think us new breed of TDs recognised that longevity in politics was no longer guaranteed," and later told the Southern Star that he had left public life.
As the chairman of the Government's Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht – which oversaw part of the project – McCarthy said: "Over 10,000 books, 1,000 recordings and free subscriptions to over 30 Irish newspapers and magazines were finally gathered.