Louise O'Reilly (born 27 September 1973) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

Dublin Fingal Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

constituency since the 2016 general election.

Background

O'Reilly describes herself as being "born a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

" because of her families' involvement in

trade unionism A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

. Her grandfather was a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

for the

Irish Transport and General Workers' Union The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin in January 1909 as a general union. Initially drawing its mem ...

while her grandmother was one for the

Irish Women Workers' Union The Irish Women Workers' Union was a trade union which was set up at a meeting on 5 September 1911 in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting had been organized by Delia Larkin. The union was created because other trade unions of the time excluded women work ...

. Her father Mick O’Reilly was a trade union official as well, and was a member of the Connolly Youth Movement, the youth wing of the Communist Party of Ireland, before joining the Labour Party, to which the union he worked for was affiliated. O'Reilly herself worked as an organiser with the

SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...

trade union for a decade before her entrance into politics.

Political career

O'Reilly was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for

in March 2015 in preparation for the

2016 Irish general election The 2016 Irish general election took place on Friday 26 February to elect 158 Teachtaí Dála (TDs) across 40 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's parliament. The 31st Dáil was dissolved by Presid ...

. In that election O'Reilly was successful on the 10th count. The Phoenix suggests that Sinn Féin had deliberately placed O'Reilly in Dublin Fingal rather than Dublin South-Central (containing Crumlin, where she lived at the time) believing she could successfully displace Dr James Reilly of Fine Gael. Reilly's run as Health Minister was considered to be stalling while O'Reilly was believed to be strong on health due to her previous experience as a trade union official representing nurses and doctors. O'Reilly did, in fact, go on to pip Dr Reilly for the seat. Her opponents accused her of being "parachuted" into the constituency, and it was only after she was elected that she moved from Crumlin to Skerries to reside in the constituency she represented. At the general election in February 2020, O'Reilly was re-elected in Dublin Fingal, topping the poll with nearly 25% of the first-preference votes. She was appointed Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 2 July 2020. She was previously the party's Health spokesperson.

References

External links

Louise O'Reilly's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Louise 1973 births 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Irish socialists Irish trade unionists Living people Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923)