Eileen Flynn (; born 1989/90) is an Irish

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politician who has served as a

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

since June 2020, after being

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

. Her background is in

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

and activism on behalf of

Irish Travellers Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally List of nomadic peoples#Peripatetic, peripatetic indigenous Ethnic group, ethno-cultural group ...

. In June 2020,

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...

appointed Flynn 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 ...

, the Irish Senate. She is the first Traveller to serve in the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

(legislature).

Early life

Eileen and her twin sister Sally were born in Labre Park, a

halting site A halting site (or a halting bay site) is purpose-built residential accommodation for Travellers provided by a local municipal authority. The halting site has an individual bay for each family unit with a full range of services provided in a ...

located in

Ballyfermot Ballyfermot () is a suburb town nw of the city aside Dublin, Ireland. It is located, seven kilometres (5 miles) west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park, it is bordered on the north by Chapelizod, on the south by Bluebell; on the east ...

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

. Flynn's mother died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at the age of 48, when Eileen and Sally were 10 years old. Flynn subsequently struggled in school and rebelled against authority. However, Flynn credits her teachers for not giving up on her, and despite her problems both she and her twin became the first members of the Labre Park community to reach

third level education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

in 2008. Flynn studied at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

as part of an

access course The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma is a U.K. qualification which prepares students — usually 19+ — for study as an undergraduate at university. The diploma is designed for people who would like to study in higher education but who le ...

before attending

Ballyfermot College of Further Education Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE; ) is an educational institution in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, a college of further and higher education. Management Ballyfermot College of Further Education is managed by the City of Dubl ...

and later earning a degree at

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

, a BA in

Activism

Following the completion of her education, Flynn had been an activist and community worker for a decade, working with groups such as the

Irish Traveller Movement The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) is a national organisation for members of the Travelling community and Traveller organisations in Ireland. History The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) was founded in 1990 and incorporated in 1998, with Catheri ...

, the National Traveller Women’s Forum and Ballyfermot Traveller Action Programme. She also campaigned on issues such as housing,

marriage equality Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

and

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...

Political career

Flynn stood as a candidate for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

in the 2020 Seanad election, but missed out by a very narrow margin. On 28 June 2020, she became a Senator upon being

, and in doing so became the first-ever Traveller to be a member the

Pavee Point Pavee Point (PP) is a government-funded non-governmental organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that was formed to improve the human rights of Irish Travellers and to bridge the economic and social inequalities between Travellers and settled peopl ...

, the Traveller Advocacy organisation, hailed her ascension to the Seanad as "historic", as did the

National Women's Council of Ireland The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) is a representative organisation for women and women's groups in Ireland. It was originally known as the Council for the Status of Women. Policies The mission of the NWCI is to achieve women's equa ...

. David Norris, the longest-serving member of the Senate, called her nomination a significant advance. Flynn stated her objectives in the Seanad will be "mental health services, unemployment among Travellers, opportunities for minority groups and getting hate-crime legislation enacted". Within three days of taking her seat in the Senate, a male senator confronted Flynn and called her a "token" nomination. Flynn retorted back that she had earned her position through her activism. In November 2020, Flynn was elected as chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community. In 2022, Flynn tabled a bill in the Seanad to replace the term "child pornography" with "child sexual exploitation material" in legislation, stating that the term "does not truly reflect the nature of the abuse".

Awards

Flynn was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.

Personal life

Since 2018, Flynn lives in Ardara,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, with her husband Liam Whyte, a settled man, and their two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Eileen Living people 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 26th Seanad Irish Travellers Alumni of Maynooth University Nominated members of Seanad Éireann BBC 100 Women Year of birth missing (living people)