Mildred Fox (born 17 June 1971) is a former 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. She was 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

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

constituency from 1995 to 2007.

Private life

She was educated at St. Kilian's Community School in Bray and is a graduate of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

holding a BA degree. Before becoming a TD, she worked as a hotel manager. She is married with four children.

Political career

During the 1997–2002 Dáil she gained some notability as she, and other independent TDs, supported the government which otherwise would not have had an overall majority. Before and after this period she was little known outside Wicklow. She was also a member of

Wicklow County Council Wicklow County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Mhantáin) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed ...

from 1995 to 2003, when she vacated her seat in favour of her brother, Christopher, when the

dual mandate A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

ended. She was first elected to the 27th Dáil at the Wicklow by-election in June 1995 following the death of her father, sitting independent TD Johnny Fox. She was re-elected at the 1997 general election and again at the 2002 general election. On both occasions, she was the last candidate to reach the

quota Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * Indi ...

. In 2002 she was elected by an extremely narrow margin of 19 votes over the Labour Party candidate

Nicky Kelly Edward Noel Kelly (born 9 January 1951), known as Nicky Kelly, is an Irish politician from Arklow in County Wicklow. He was born in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. A member of Official Sinn Féin, later on he left it to join the new Irish Repu ...

. She retired at the 2007 general election for "family reasons". Fox wished to spend more time with her children, telling ''

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 ...

'' in 2010 that "the family had to come first." After retiring from politics, Fox started an ice cream business, and has volunteered at a local charity shop. She sings with the country band ''The Whipperwills''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Mildred 1971 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Local councillors in County Wicklow Independent TDs Irish Anglicans 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 People from Bray, County Wicklow Politicians from County Wicklow