Mr Sean Sherwin was only 23 when he was elected to the Dβil for Fianna Fβil in a by-election in Dublin South West in 1970. He failed to be re-elected three years later.
By then, Mr Sherwin had followed Kevin Boland out of Fianna Fβil and become the only TD representing Mr Boland's new party, Aontacht ╔ireann.
Mr Sherwin rejoined Fianna Fβil six years later when Charles Haughey assumed the leadership. In the 1980s he was appointed national organiser of the party, a post he still fills. Mr Sherwin (55) is married with three grown-up children, and lives in Clondalkin.