David Cullinane (born 4 July 1974) is an Irish politician who has been 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, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

constituency since the 2016 general election. He previously served as a

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for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

from 2011 to 2016.

Personal life

Cullinane was born in

in 1974. He was married to Kathleen Funchion, who is a MEP for

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Political career

He was elected to

Waterford City Council Waterford City Council () was the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in the city of Waterford in Ireland until 2014. As a city council, it was governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The ...

at the 2004 local elections and retained his seat at the 2009 local elections. He became a member of in May 2011, as a senator for the

. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' described him in the Seanad as "a frequent, informed and often abrasive contributor across a wide range of areas, with a keen attention to the nuances of legislation". He unsuccessfully contested the

constituency at the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

general elections, before winning a seat in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. He was re-elected in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, when his 20,596 first preference votes amounted to 1.95 quotas, and was the highest ever recorded in the constituency's history. Cullinane drew criticism on election night when a 30-second video uploaded to Twitter showed him ending his election victory speech with the phrases "up the Republic, Up the 'Ra and ". When questioned about the appropriateness of using these phrases associated with support for the IRA, Cullinane stated: "Yesterday was a very emotional day for me ... It was a long count and obviously we were very excited and very proud of the vote we got yesterday in Waterford. The 30-second clip was part of a longer speech that I gave where I was reflecting back on the hunger strikes, reflecting back on the fact that Kevin Lynch stood in the Waterford constituency in 1981. He was someone who inspired me and inspired I think many republicans. The comments were made in that context." At the 2024 general election, Cullinane was re-elected to the Dáil. In April 2025 Cullinane, 's health spokesperson, was criticised for describing the British Supreme Court ruling in '' For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers'' (which defined “woman” and “sex” to exclude transgender women from legal recognition) as a “common sense judgement” worth considering in Ireland. After Cullinane deleted the post and issued an apology, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin threatened to ban from its July march unless the party clarified its stance and reversed support for a puberty blocker ban in Northern Ireland. The group accused of enabling anti-trans policies in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

while “ pinkwashing” its image in the Republic.

References

External links

David Cullinane's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullinane, David 1974 births Living people Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Members of Waterford City Council Members of the 24th Seanad Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Politicians from Waterford (city) Sinn Féin senators Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Spouses of Irish politicians Labour Panel senators Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 34th Dáil

Personal life

Political career

See also

References

External links