Patricia McKenna (born 13 March 1957) is an Irish

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and former

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

politician. She served as a

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(MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 1994 to 2004. She is a practising barrister having been called to the Bar in 2016.

Background

A native of Castleshane, a small village in County Monaghan. McKenna was formerly a member of the

. She became the first Green Party candidate in

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to be elected to the

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. She was elected to the European Parliament at the 1994 election and was re-elected at the 1999 election, but lost her seat at the 2004 election. She acted as one of the Dáil advisers to Ireland's first Green Party

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 Parl ...

(TD),

Roger Garland Roger Garland (born February 1933) is an Irish environmental activist and a former Green Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1989 to 1992. He was the Green Party's first candidate to be el ...

. In 1997, she called for a boycott of

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when it was reported to be selling clothes produced in a state-run factory in

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. A former teacher, she is active in People's Movement which successfully campaigned for the rejection of the

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in 2008. McKenna has been involved in many campaigns as an MEP and politician. She is perhaps best known for her victory in the

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in 1995, in which she argued successfully that it was unconstitutional for the

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to spend taxpayers money promoting only one side of the argument in

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campaigns. This led to the setting up of the Referendum Commission. She is also well known for her opposition to

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, genetically modified food, and

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-led military action in various parts of the world. She has also expressed concerns about the safety of the

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. McKenna also campaigned against the Irish government's plan to join

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's "

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". She advocates for Irish neutrality and the Shell to Sea campaign, and was widely associated with the

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

wing of the Green Party. McKenna ran as Green Party candidate at the 2007 general election for the Dublin Central constituency, but was not elected. She also strongly opposed the 2007 Programme for Government between the Green Party and

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

. After the election, she declared herself a candidate for the leadership of the Green Party, but the position was won by John Gormley. She was elected to the Green Party National Executive in April 2008. In August 2008, she appeared in

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'' Fáilte Towers''. She was the fifth contestant evicted from the show. In 2014, she graduated with a degree in Law and Political Science from Trinity College Dublin. She was called to the Bar in 2016.

2009 European Parliament election

In May 2009, after the Bank bail-outs, McKenna announced her intention to run as an Independent candidate at the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...

in Dublin - attacking her party colleagues as "''nothing but hypocrites''" due to their role in the

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

, and that she would be "''embarrassed to stand as their candidate''". Reactions by former party colleagues to McKenna's departure from the Green Party were mixed. According to Green Party Senator Déirdre de Búrca, "The pity about Patricia McKenna's move is that she did not do it at least a year ago and spare herself and her party colleagues a lot of time-wasting and strife. It has been increasingly clear that she does not share the same views on many issues with Green Party members." McKenna was not elected at the

. She received 17,521 first preference votes (4.3%). She was eliminated at the fifth count, after her former party colleague Déirdre de Búrca, who was eliminated at the third count. In June 2010, she attended meetings with a number of former Green Party members to facilitate the formation of a new political party,

Fís Nua Fís Nua (; English: "New Vision") is a minor environmentalist political party in Ireland. History The party was formed in June 2010, mainly by former members of the Green Party who were unhappy with that party's participation in the then coal ...

Involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum

In 2016, McKenna campaigned with Green Leaves, an EU critical faction of the Green Party of England and Wales whose members include Baroness Jenny Jones, for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the run up to its membership referendum. She argued that the EU is unreformable and criticised its

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

policies.

Seanad by-election

She was an unsuccessful candidate in the

2022 Dublin University by-election A by-election was held for the Seanad Éireann Dublin University (constituency), Dublin University constituency in Republic of Ireland, Ireland in March 2022. Ballot papers were issued on 25 February and polls closed at 11 a.m. on 30 March 2022. ...

, having been eliminated on the seventh count with 463 votes (3.5%).

References

External links

A transcript of a speech against software patents, with a statement from McKenna
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Patricia 1957 births Living people Green Party (Ireland) MEPs Independent politicians in Ireland Irish environmentalists Irish women environmentalists MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1999–2004 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1994–1999 20th-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 21st-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland Participants in Irish reality television series Politicians from County Monaghan Irish women activists Alumni of Trinity College Dublin