Kathy Sinnott (; born 29 September 1950) is a
disability rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocat ...
activist and politician who served as a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP) for the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
constituency from 2004 to 2009.
Early life
Sinnott was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, in 1950. She married
Declan Sinnott
Declan Sinnott (born 29 July 1950) is an Irish musician and record producer.
Originally from Wexford town, where his father was an optician and jeweller on Main Street, he came to Dublin in the late 1960s. Around 1970 he was a member of the poe ...
when they were both aged twenty one. The couple have three daughters and six sons together, they are now separated.
Career
She is secretary of the Hope Project, a charity that helps people with disabilities. Sinnott founded the Hope Project in 1996. In 2000, she took a court case to force the
Government of Ireland
The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.
The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...
to provide a
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
education for her son Jamie who has multiple disabilities. In 2001, the
High Court ruled that every person in Ireland had a constitutional right to free appropriate primary education based on need. The judgment confirmed that this was a fundamental right which was not limited by the availability of resources. The government did not challenge the High Court decision for children 18 years and younger, but successfully appealed its application to persons over 18 years of age in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
Public office
Sinnott was elected as an
MEP for the South constituency at the
2004 European Parliament election
The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...
. She campaigned on disability, education,
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
,
euroscepticism
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
and
social conservatism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...
issues.
She had stood previously at the
2002 general election for a seat in the
Cork South-Central constituency, and narrowly lost the fifth and final seat to
John Dennehy of
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...
. In the election count, she was initially ahead by 3 votes but lost by 6 votes after two recounts.
She was an unsuccessful candidate at the subsequent
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 ...
election, after she had been nominated by four sitting independent TDs, losing out by three votes to a Fine Gael candidate. She required a High Court judgment to allow her to run for the Seanad on 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.
...
.
She is a former co-chair of the European Parliament's Eurosceptic
Independence/Democracy group. Sinnott was a member and vice-president of the
EUDemocrats – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies.
She was featured in a German TV exposé where MEPs were filmed signing up at 7am for their daily attendance allowance prior to then leaving parliament for the day, in 2008.
On 8 June 2009, Sinnott lost her seat in the European Parliament. She received 30% fewer votes than in the 2004 European Parliament election.
On 21 September 2009, her son Kevin drowned in a swimming accident in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
[Body found in US lake is son of former MEP](_blank)
, Michelle McDonagh, The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
, 24 September 2009 He was a final year philosophy student at the
Southern Catholic College
Southern Catholic College was a private, co-educational Roman Catholic four-year college located in Dawsonville, Georgia. It was founded in 2000 by Thomas J. Clements and the first classes were held in the fall of 2005 and its last classes were h ...
in
Dawsonville, Georgia
Dawsonville is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,536 at the 2010 census, up from 619 in 2000.
Dawsonville is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
.
In 2012, Sinnott campaigned against the
Children's referendum, claiming it would "lock in" the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Irish Constitution and claiming that a "child is six times more likely to die in care at the hands of the State, than in the care of their parents."
Her statistics drew criticism from the Minister
Leo Varadkar
Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...
who labelled them "incredible" and "made up."
[
In 2015, Sinnott campaigned against the 2015 referendum on same-sex marriage as part of the "First Families First" campaign group, alongside fathers' rights campaigner ]John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...
.
, she is the host of Celtic Connections, a programme on EWTN Radio
The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable Catholic television, television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic t ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinnott, Kathy
1950 births
Living people
Politicians from County Cork
Politicians from Chicago
21st-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland
MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 2004–2009
Independent MEPs for Ireland
Conservatism in Ireland
Irish anti-abortion activists