Timmins was born in
Baltinglass,
County Wicklow. He was educated at Patrician College,
Ballyfin,
County Laois; at
University College Galway where he received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in
Economics and
Legal Science; and at the Military College,
Curragh. Timmins served as an
army officer, serving in Counties
Galway,
Donegal and
Kilkenny and with the
United Nations in
Lebanon and
Cyprus. Timmins was first elected to
Dáil Éireann for the
Wicklow constituency at the
1997 general election, succeeding his father
Godfrey Timmins who had retired. On his election to the Dáil, he became party spokesperson on Defence, Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Relief. He was elected to
Wicklow County Council for the Baltinglass area in 1999 and served until 2004. In 2000 he became party spokesperson on Housing. Following the
2002 general election he was appointed spokesperson on
Agriculture and Food. In
Enda Kenny's front bench reshuffle in 2004 he received the
Defence spokesperson portfolio. He was party spokesperson on
Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2010. In June 2010 he supported
Richard Bruton's
leadership challenge to
Enda Kenny. Following Kenny's victory in a motion of confidence, Timmins was not re-appointed to the front bench. From October 2010 to March 2011 he was party deputy spokesperson on Social Protection with special responsibility for Pension and Welfare Reform. Timmins was expelled from the Fine Gael parliamentary party on 2 July 2013 when he defied the party whip by voting against the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013. On 13 September 2013 he and six other expellees formed the
Reform Alliance, most of whose supporters moved on to its successor Renua Ireland. He stood as a Renua candidate at the 2016 general election, but lost his seat. In May 2016, he announced his resignation from Renua. Timmins rejoined the Fine Gael party in April 2018 and on 11 May 2018 was selected, along with Andrew Doyle and Simon Harris, to be a Fine Gael candidate for Wicklow for the next general election. He was an unsuccessful Fine Gael candidate for the Wicklow constituency at the
2020 general election. ==See also==