Eibhlin Byrne is a former

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

politician who served on

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

from 2003 to 2009, including as

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

from 2008 to 2009. Byrne has held a number of senior positions including (current) Acting Director of the Daughters of Charity Child and Family Service, Head of Communication and Advocacy at Depaul Trust (Homeless Service) (2003–2006), and Chair of the National Council on Ageing and Older People, and as chairperson or board member of many other organizations. In 2023, she was appointed as National Lead on Civic Engagement at the

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth The Department of Children, Disability and Equality () is a Department of State (Ireland), department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. Departmental team The official headquarters and ...

. Byrne began her career as a secondary school teacher. She was a member of the

for the Clontarf area from 2003 to 2009 when she was co-opted to replace Sandra Geraghty. She was re-elected in June 2004 for a five-year term. She was elected as Lord Mayor in 2008 by Fianna Fáil councillors with the support of councillors from the Labour Party,

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

and several Independents. Byrne was previously a member of the City Council's Housing Strategic Policy Group, the Dublin Regional Authority, and the Dublin Bay Task Force. She was also a member of Commissions on Crime and on Ageing in the City. On 15 April 2009, Byrne was nominated as a Fianna Fáil candidate (along with Eoin Ryan) for the Dublin constituency 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 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

which was held on 5 June 2009 but she was not elected. Byrne did not stand for re-election to Dublin City Council. She resigned from Fianna Fáil in 2011. In 2009, Byrne drew criticism when she suggested it was "unpatriotic" for the Republic's citizens to go shopping 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 ...

. Her comments were denounced as " partitionist" by Sinn Féin's

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Eibhlin Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fianna Fáil local councillors Lord mayors of Dublin Women mayors of places in Ireland Irish schoolteachers Alumni of University College Dublin