A former TD has been given 220 hours community service and a three year driving ban, after admitting to driving under the influence of cocaine.
Colm Keaveney pleaded guilty to a charge of drug driving, and to two other charges of driving without insurance, at Tuam District Court in September of last year.
The offences occurred on separate dates in 2023 and 2024.
After being adjourned on multiple occasions, the case was finalised at Tuam Courthouse today.
Defence solicitor Gearóid Geraghty said his client had a significant political career ahead of him, before experiencing a "dramatic fall from grace".
He outlined how Mr Keaveney had become addicted to painkillers following an injury in 2006 and had then "graduated to cocaine".
His brother had died in 2017, leaving the former TD as the carer for his parents, who died within weeks of each other in 2023.
In addition, Mr Keaveney had lost his job and his marriage had broken up.
Mr Geraghty said the 55-year-old had spent eight weeks in residential treatment and was taking steps to address his addiction issues.
He acknowledged that a probation report said the defendant was at a medium risk of reoffending but pointed out that he had not come to Garda notice recently. "He has turned a corner," said Mr Geraghty.
Judge James Faughnan said the purpose of a sentence was to act as a deterrent. He said that having considered the probation report he felt a non-custodial penalty was fitting in this case.
He imposed 220 hours of community service, in lieu of a four month prison term, and disqualified Mr Keaveney from driving for three years.
Judge Faughnan accepted the defendant had experienced difficulties and acknowledged that he seemed to have taken the appropriate course to address his addiction issues. He said he hoped the sentence would allow for "some light at the end of the tunnel".
An earlier hearing was told how the former Galway East TD was stopped at a checkpoint, in June 2023, where he failed a drug test. Subsequent analysis of a blood sample revealed the presence of cocaine.
In late July 2024, Mr Keaveney was stopped on two separate occasions for failing to display a valid insurance disc.
Elected as a Labour TD in 2011, the Galway East Deputy later left the party and joined Fianna Fáil. He lost his Dáil seat in 2016 and went on to serve on Galway County Council.
He no longer holds elected office.
The court was told Mr Keaveney has two previous convictions, the most recent dating from last July, when he was fined €250 and banned from driving for four years.
That sentence related to an incident in Boyle, Co Roscommon, in October 2024, when he failed to stop after a collision with another vehicle and subsequently failed to provide a blood or urine sample.
