| Office: | Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann |
| 1Blankname: | Cathaoirleach |
| 1Namedata: | Denis O'Donovan |
| Term Start: | 15 June 2016 |
| Term End: | 27 March 2020 |
| Predecessor: | Denis O'Donovan |
| Successor: | Jerry Buttimer |
| Office1: | Senator |
| Term Start1: | 17 September 1997 |
| Term End1: | 29 June 2020 |
| Constituency1: | Industrial and Commercial Panel |
| Birth Date: | 1 June 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Death Place: | Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Party: | Fine Gael |
| Children: | 5 |
| Alma Mater: | University College Cork |
Paul Coghlan (1 June 1944 – 8 June 2023) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from June 2016 to March 2020 and a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1997 to 2020.[1] [2]
Coghlan unsuccessfully contested the 1992 general election in the Kerry South, constituency. He then stood on the Agricultural Panel in the election to the 20th Seanad, but did not win a seat.[3]
In 1997, he was elected to the 21st Seanad by the Industrial and Commercial Panel, and re-elected in 2002 to the 22nd Seanad, where he was Fine Gael spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He was re-elected in 2007 to the 23rd Seanad, again by the Industrial and Commercial Panel.
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, he was a member and former President of the Killarney Chamber of Commerce. He was a founding director of Radio Kerry and was a trustee and former Chairperson of Muckross House. He was also a member of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, the Life Assurance Association and the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers.
Coghlan was previously a member of Kerry County Council, Killarney Town Council and the Dingle Harbour Commissioners.
Coghlan was a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly and a member of the committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He retired from politics in 2020 and did not contest the 2020 Seanad election.[4]
Coghlan died on 8 June 2023, at the age of 79.[4]