Bobby Alyward (60) is a farmer and politician who comes from a well-known Fianna Fáil family. He was a member of Kilkenny County Council from 1992 until his election to the Dáil in 2007. As well as being a former chair of the council, he was also a member of the Southern Fisheries Board, and the Port of Waterford. His father Bob Aylward was a senator from 1973 to his death in 1974 and his brother, Liam, represented Carlow Kilkenny for Fianna Fáil from 1977 until he retired from national politics in 2007. opting to keep his position in the European Parliament, where he had a seat until 2014. Bobby Alyward, who is married with two sons and one daughter, lost his seat in 2011 but regained it in a by-election in 2015 caused by the resignation of Phil Hogan.