Ciarán Cannon has been a key figure in Galway politics since his success in the local elections in 2004. However, he is now taken on an even bigger challenge as leader of the Progressive Democrats party.

Originally from Kiltulla-Killimor Daly, Ciarán Cannon could have been a professional pianist or a teacher. Instead he decided to embark on a career in politics. After getting his education in Kiltulla National School and the Presentation Secondary School in Athenry, he decided to move to Dublin where he landed a position with Dublin County Council.

After four years, he decided to return to the West and began working as a planning official with Galway County Council, where he stayed for ten years. However, he become disillusioned with the lack of innovation in local government and decided to take a detour in his career path and venture into politics.

"I had always had an interest in politics and, at one stage, I just thought 'Look, it's now or never'. A lot of people around my age were disillusioned with the whole political process and they say the best way to change something is from within, so I decided to run in the local elections in 2004.

"I hadn't previously had any political affiliation with any party and neither had my family, so I wasn't sure in what direction to go. The vision, courage and innovation of the PDs were the reasons that persuaded me to join them, so I met with Noel Grealish and took it from there."

With the support of local colleagues, Ciarán won a seat for the Loughrea area of Galway County Council in 2004 and his late foray into politics began in earnest. In 2007, he decided to take the next step and ran as a candidate in Galway East. Despite receiving 3,300 votes, he failed to be elected. However his career was far from over and he was later elected to the Senate as part of the Taoiseach's 11 nominees.

Following the Progressive Democrats' dismal performance in the 2007 election, many high-profile faces including leader Michael McDowell left the party leading to much speculation about its future. With Mary Harney and Noel Grealish bowing out of the race for the party's leadership, Ciarán decided to put his name forward and was soon embroiled in a tight contest with Dublin Senator Fiona O Malley.

Ciarán was announced as the new leader of the PDs last Wednesday and began his tenure just two days ago. Outlining his priorities for his leadership, Ciarán said he would prefer to take real action on a smaller number of issues rather than taking on too wide a platform. He plans to cultivate the Progressive Democrats as a radical party who are not afraid to take an unpopular stance, focusing on innovative tax reform, education and seeing the country through the tough economic times ahead.

He is looking forward to the tough challenge ahead and plans to revitalise the party in the coming years, beginning with the 2009 local elections.