Louise O'Reilly (born 27 September 1973) 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 Dublin Fingal West constituency since the 2024 general election, and previously for Dublin Fingal from

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 ...

to 2024.

Background

O'Reilly describes herself as being "born a republican

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

" because of her families' involvement in

trade unionism A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. Her grandfather was a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union while her grandmother was one for the Irish Women Workers' Union. Her father Mick O’Reilly was a trade union official as well, and was a member of the Connolly Youth Movement, the youth wing of the Communist Party of Ireland, before joining the Labour Party, to which the union he worked for was affiliated. O'Reilly herself worked as an organiser with the SIPTU trade union for a decade before her entrance into politics.

Political career

O'Reilly was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for Dublin Fingal in March 2015 in preparation for the

2016 Irish general election The 2016 Irish general election to the 32nd Dáil was held on Friday 26 February, following the dissolution of the 31st Dáil by President of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February, at the request of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The genera ...

. In that election O'Reilly was elected on the 10th count. '' The Phoenix'' suggested that Sinn Féin had deliberately placed O'Reilly in Dublin Fingal rather than Dublin South-Central (containing Crumlin, where she lived at the time) believing she could successfully displace James Reilly of Fine Gael. Reilly's run as Health Minister was considered to be stalling while O'Reilly was believed to be strong on health due to her previous experience as a trade union official representing nurses and doctors. O'Reilly did, in fact, go on to pip James Reilly for the seat. Her opponents accused her of being "parachuted" into the constituency, and it was only after she was elected that she moved from Crumlin to Skerries to reside in the constituency she represented. At the general election in February 2020, O'Reilly was re-elected in Dublin Fingal, topping the poll with nearly 25% of the first-preference votes. She was appointed Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 2 July 2020. She was previously the party's Health spokesperson. O'Reilly was re-elected in the 2024 Irish general election in Dublin Fingal West.

References

External links

Louise O'Reilly's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Louise 1973 births 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Irish socialists Trade unionists from County Dublin Living people Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Politicians from County Dublin Irish women trade unionists Members of the 34th Dáil