Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (''née'' Moynihan; born 31 March 1953) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as a

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

(TD) for the Kerry South constituency from 1992 to 2007. She was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in 1953, but is a native of

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, County Kerry. She was educated at St. Brigid's Secondary School, Killarney;

Dominican College Sion Hill Dominican College Sion Hill is one of the oldest girls' secondary schools in Ireland, founded in 1836 in Blackrock, County Dublin. Its approach to education is based on the Dominican ideal of developing the whole person. "Dominican College Sion ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

; and

Skerry's College Skerry's College was a series of colleges which primarily prepared candidates for Civil Service examinations. History 1878-1885 Skerry’s College was inaugurated as a small training centre in Edinburgh in 1878 by George Skerry,Skerry's Colleg ...

, Cork. Her father, Michael Moynihan, was a TD for Kerry South from 1981 to 1987 and from 1989 to 1992. She worked as a bank official before becoming involved in politics in 1991 when she was elected to

Kerry County Council Kerry County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chiarraí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kerry, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

. She was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election as a Labour Party TD for Kerry South, succeeding her father. She was re-elected at every election until 2007. She held a number of Front Bench positions in the Labour Party, including, Spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Law Reform (1997–1998), Social, Community and Family Affairs (1998–1999), Tourism and Recreation (1999–2002), Social, Community and Family Affairs (2002–2003), and Equality and Law Reform (2003–2007). Moynihan–Cronin is a former Chairperson of the Labour Party. On 11 October 2005, she announced that she would not stand for re-election at the forthcoming general election due to ill-health. Her decision to retire presented considerable difficulties for the Labour Party to retain her seat, as the party performed poorly at the local elections in 2004, failing to elect any councillors within the constituency. However, on 28 October 2006, she announced that she would stand in the forthcoming general election, having overcome her health difficulties. However, she failed to retain her seat. In June 2011, she returned to politics when she was co-opted onto

to represent the Killarney area, filling the seat left vacant when Marie Moloney was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

. In 2013, she stood down from the council and was replaced by Sean Counihan who subsequently lost the seat in the 2014 local elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moynihan-Cronin, Breeda 1953 births Living people Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Local councillors in County Kerry People educated at Skerry's College People educated at Dominican College Sion Hill