Jillian van Turnhout (; born 29 March 1968) is an Irish children's rights advocate and served as an independent member of

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

from 2011 to 2016.

Politics

Van Turnhout was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

to the

24th Seanad The 24th Seanad was in office from 2011 to 2016. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2011 general election to the 31st Dáil on 25 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were el ...

in May 2011. She stepped down from her role as Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, and served as Leader of the Independent Group (Taoiseach Nominees), member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, and Chair of the Oireachtas Children's Future Health Group until the conclusion of the

in April 2016. Her areas of focus during her tenure included: initiating the ban on the corporal punishment of children; campaigning against the holding of child beauty pageants in Ireland; developing strategies to tackle online

child sexual abuse material Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is erotic material that ...

(CSAM); children in Direct Provision, transgender children; children in conflict with the law, early childhood education and care; protecting children's health from tobacco smoke; childhood obesity; housing and homelessness; neuro-rehabilitation services and end of life care, in addition to alcohol misuse, alcohol related harm and in her opposition to any alcohol industry involvement in public health campaigns, and education space.

Europe

At a European level, she was elected and employed as Secretary General of the European Coordination Bureau (ECB-BEC) from 1993 to 1996 and was based in Brussels, Belgium. In this role, she was one of the co-founders of the

European Youth Forum The European Youth Forum (, YFJ) is an international non-profit association that serves as an umbrella organisation and advocacy group of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Europe. It works on y ...

in 1996. Van Turnhout was appointed by the Government to be a member of the

European Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of representatives from employers' organization, employers' associations, workers' unio ...

(EESC) from 1998 to 2011. On each of the four occasions that she was appointed, she was nominated by the Community and Voluntary Pillar on behalf of the NYCI and then the Children's Rights Alliance, where she was involved in Social Affairs, External Relations and Communications. She represented the EESC on the EU-China Round Table for six years, and on the Steering Group of the EU Forum on the Rights of the Child. Between 2006 and 2008, Van Turnhout was elected to the position of Vice President of the EESC – only the second time in the 50-year history of the organisation that an Irish person was part of the Presidency team.

Other work

Van Turnhout is involved with a number of organisations. She is Chair of Early Childhood Ireland; Chair of Children in Hospital Ireland; Vice Chair of

European Movement Ireland European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland) () is an independent not-for-profit organisation that campaigns for every Irish person to get involved in the European Union and by doing so, help shape it. It is the oldest Irish organisation dealing with ...

; former board member of Women for Election; and former Chief Commissioner of the

Irish Girl Guides The Irish Girl Guides () is a Girl Guides organisation in the Republic of Ireland. Together with the Catholic Guides of Ireland, it forms the Council of Irish Guiding Associations. Whereas the Catholic Guides are an all-Ireland body, the Ir ...

(IGG). Van Turnhout is a former president of the

National Youth Council of Ireland The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is a representative body for Irish youth organisations, a role that is recognised in the 2001 Youth Work Act. Currently there are 45 national youth organisations who are full member of the NYCI. The Na ...

(NYCI); former member of the National Youth Work Advisory Committee; former member of the National Children's Advisory Council; former member of the Management Committee of the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF); and a former Council member of

Gaisce – The President's Award Gaisce – The President's Award () is an award in Ireland, earned by young people between the ages of 14 and 25 for participating in several activities for a certain period. There are three awards: bronze, silver and gold. The term "gaisce" ...

Awards

She was awarded the 'Freedom of Killarney' in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

in September 2010, and in the same year won the

Newstalk Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Aut ...

Women Mean Business Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for her innovative work in the Children's Rights Alliance. In 2015, Van Turnhout was awarded TV3's Tonight Show Politician of the Year. She was also named Senator of the Year by Miriam Lord, writer and columnist with ''

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 ...

'', who said "Van Turnhout's work in the area of child protection puts her in a select band of parliamentarians who aren't living reminders of why the Seanad should have been abolished when we had the chance." In recognition for her work in Europe, Van Turnhout was appointed Honorary President of the Europa Society in University College Cork for 2016–2017.

Personal life

She is married to Michael van Turnhout who works in the private sector and is a member of

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

. He previously served as constituency chairperson for Dublin South and is a former member of their Executive Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Turnhout, Jillian 1968 births Living people Independent members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 24th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann People from Dublin (city) Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology