Joanna Tuffy (born 9 March 1965) is an 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
Dublin Mid-West constituency 2007 to 2016. She was 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 ...
for the
Administrative Panel from 2002 to 2007.
Early life
Born in London in 1965, Tuffy was educated at
Trinity College Dublin (BA) and the
Dublin Institute of Technology (Legal Studies).
Political career
She was elected to
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act ...
for the
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
area in 1999 and served until 2003. At the
2002 general election she unsuccessfully stood for election to
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
for Dublin Mid-West. She was subsequently elected to the 22nd
Seanad Éireann by the
Administrative Panel. She was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time at the
2007 general election.
Her father is Eamon Tuffy, a former Labour Party councillor for Lucan, he was co-opted to replace her in 2003.
Tuffy is a strong supporter of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and served as vice-chair of the Oireachtas Friends of Israel group.
She, along with TD
Tommy Broughan
Thomas Broughan (born 1 August 1947) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020.
He sat as a TD for the Labour Party until late 2011, representing the Dublin North-East constituency from 1992 ...
, opposed Labour going into coalition with
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and 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 ...
in the aftermath of the
2011 general election.
In September 2013, Tuffy publicly disagreed with the official Labour Party position supporting the abolition of the Seanad during the
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
campaign. She argued that it had played a key role in the past and could do so in the future.
Tuffy lost her seat at the
2016 general election.
[
She was re-elected to South Dublin County Council in the 2019 local elections. She contested the 2019 Dáil by-election in the Dublin Mid-West constituency,] when she gained 6.7% of the first preference votes but was not elected. She was also an unsuccessful candidate for Dublin Mid-West at the 2020 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
, when her share of first preference votes fell to only 3.39%.
References
External links
Joanna Tuffy's page on the Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuffy, Joanna
1965 births
Living people
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology
Irish solicitors
Labour Party (Ireland) TDs
Members of the 22nd Seanad
21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann
Members of the 30th Dáil
Members of the 31st Dáil
21st-century women Teachtaí Dála
Labour Party (Ireland) senators
Local councillors in South Dublin (county)
People from Lucan, Dublin