Rose Conway-Walsh (; born 1969/1970) is an Irish

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 ...

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 Mayo constituency since the 2020 general election. She previously served as a Leader of Sinn Féin in the Seanad and a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the Agricultural Panel from 2016 to 2020.

Early life

Conway-Walsh grew up in Ballycroy, County Mayo and is one of nine children. She attended primary school in Ballycroy before attending Our Lady's Secondary School in

Belmullet Belmullet (, IPA: �bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony (Ireland), barony of Erris, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the commercial and cul ...

. She moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when she was 19. On returning to Ireland, she obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in public management and a Master's degree in Local Government from

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

. Prior to entering politics, she worked in community development.

Political career

Conway-Walsh has been a member of Sinn Féin's Ard Comhairle since 1990. She founded the Sinn Féin Mayo Women's Movement in response to the lack of women in politics. In 2009, she was elected to Mayo County Council for the Belmullet local area, becoming the first female councillor ever elected in Belmullet. She was re-elected in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, topping the poll and being elected on the first count. She was elected to the Seanad in 2016, topping the poll in the Agricultural Panel and being deemed elected on the first count. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Mayo constituency at the

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 ...

and

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 ...

general elections, before winning election in 2020. Conway-Walsh is the first Sinn Féin TD to represent

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

in almost 100 years; the last Sinn Féin TD to be elected in Mayo was John Madden in June 1927. In July 2021 she attracted criticism for comparing segregated reopening after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to the segregation of the American South and the struggle of

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, in defiance of Jim Crow laws, which sparke ...

, for which she later apologised. She is the party's spokesperson on Higher Education, Innovation, and Science. At the 2024 general election, Conway-Walsh was re-elected to the Dáil.

Personal life

Conway married Noel Walsh in 2000. They live in

with their two sons.

References

External links

Rose Conway-Walsh's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway-Walsh, Rose Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Irish republicans Members of Mayo County Council Members of the 25th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 33rd Dáil 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Politicians from County Mayo Sinn Féin senators Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Year of birth missing (living people) People from Belmullet Agricultural Panel senators Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 34th Dáil