More than 20 years after he departed the Oireachtas, Jim Glennon’s relatively short political career has brought the former Ireland rugby player back into the spotlight.
Glennon (72) at the weekend confirmed he was the ex-TD who offered a character reference for Daniel Ramamoorthy, who was last year convicted of sexually exploiting a child.
The Court of Appeal last week declined to grant a request for access to the reference submitted by a former TD when it rejected Ramamoorthy’s appeal of his sentence, creating much speculation.
Glennon put an end to that on Sunday when he apologised for writing the reference, which he said was “naive” and “wrong”.
Born in Skerries, north Dublin, Glennon boarded in Roscrea during the late 1960s and showed promise on the rugby field. A big and broad man, standing 6ft 4in tall, he played for Leinster for 15 years and was capped six times for Ireland as a second row during the 1980s. He later moved into management roles with Leinster and international underage sides and served as a media pundit for a time.
Having been involved in business, he switched his attention to politics in 2000. His uncle was a Labour TD in the 1930s, but Glennon was elected for Fianna Fáil in a Seanad byelection that year.
In 2002, he was elected to the Dáil for the Dublin North constituency, a shock result that pushed out the then high-profile Fine Gael TD Nora Owen.
Glennon followed the relatively well-trodden route as a former sports star or manager entering politics, though having a rugby rather than a GAA background made his journey less usual. The only other politician to follow the same route in recent times was Dick Spring, though he was also the son of a TD.
Glennon was seen as having ambitions for higher office, but taoiseach Bertie Ahern adhered firmly to his rule of not promoting first-time TDs, leaving him on the backbenches. Over time, Glennon became disillusioned and frustrated at what he saw as a failure to use his skills.
In October 2006, eight months before the next general election, Glennon announced he was retiring from politics. He said at the time that had Ahern handed him the keys of a ministerial car he would have said: “Thanks, but no thanks.”
He said the decision rested largely on lifestyle as the pressure on his time was such that he had not hit a golf ball in three years. He said he was not portraying himself as a martyr but most politicians were effectively on call seven days a week.
During his time as a TD he went on a 2004 trip with the Irish Parliamentary Association to Australia. The cost attracted significant media attention, particularly a visit to an Australian winery. The TDs who travelled were later dubbed the ‘Shiraz Seven’.
After retiring from the Dáil at the age of 54, Glennon moved into lobbying and public affairs. In 2008, he joined the communications firm Edelman as chairman in a non-executive role.
Speaking to The Irish Times in 2011, Glennon said a lobbyist did privately what a TD did publicly.
“As a result you do very few potholes but far more things at the business end of politics,” he said.
Since the establishment of the lobbying register in 2015, records show he engaged with ministers and senior politicians on behalf of companies including Primark, Musgrave Group, Airbnb and the Irish Offshore Operators Association. The most recent activity recorded for Glennon on the register was in 2024.
He was associated with Edelman for 18 years, stepping down only last month. The company has insisted Glennon’s decision was unrelated to him providing the reference for Ramamoorthy, who in 2014 founded a co-working hub company called Treehouse, with Glennon serving as a member of its advisory board.
Glennon on Sunday said in a statement that the crimes committed by Ramamoorthy “were vile and of the most egregious nature”.
“I offer my unreserved apology to the victim and to their family,” he said, adding that writing the letter “was an error of judgment”.