Ann Phelan (born 16 September 1961) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

from 2014 to 2016. She served as a

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

(TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 2011 to 2016.

Political career

Phelan was elected to

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kilkenny, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ...

in 2004 and 2009 for the

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average ...

. Phelan was first elected as a Labour Party TD for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 2011 general election. On 15 July 2014, she was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour coalition government as

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the M ...

and at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport with special responsibility for rural economic development and rural transport. Her responsibilities included the implementation of the 2014 report by the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA). Before the 2016 general election she participated in a live radio debate on

KCLR 96FM KCLR 96FM is an Irish radio station which broadcasts to Carlow and Kilkenny in Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, no ...

. While there she got into an argument, saying: "I am just going to give up here now. I came to this debate here tonight, I came in here, I've been completely ignored and I'll tell you now I'm fed up of the whole bloody lot of ye." Then she walked out of the studio. She admitted later that she had "absolutely" lost her temper. She lost her seat at the 2016 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Ann 1961 births Living people Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in County Kilkenny Members of the 31st Dáil 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology People from Graiguenamanagh