Róisín Shortall (born 25 April 1954) is an Irish

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

politician who has been joint leader of the

since June 2015. She has been 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 Parl ...

(TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency since 1992. She previously served as Minister of State for Primary Care from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Labour Party until 2012, she sat as an

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 * Independe ...

from 2012 to 2015, until she co-founded the

in July 2015. In August 2022, she became the longest serving female TD in the history of the State, overtaking Mary Harney.

Early life

Shortall was born and raised in Drumcondra,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. Her father was a

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 Christia ...

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

lor who had fought in the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

. She was educated at Dominican College, Eccles Street;

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 member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

, and

Marino Institute of Education Marino Institute of Education (Irish: ) is an Irish College of Education, an associated College of Trinity College Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Marino Institute of Education is focused on providing education courses. Its ...

, Marino. She has a B.A. in Economics and Politics. She worked as a teacher for the deaf before seeking public office.

Political career

In 1988, she joined the Labour Party and first held public office in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, when she was elected to

for the Drumcondra

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average p ...

. Shortall was first elected 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 rea ...

at the 1992 general election, when the Labour Party won a record 33 seats as part of the "Spring Tide", a surge credited to the popularity of Labour leader

Dick Spring Dick Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North from 1981 to 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997 ...

. She retained her seat at each of the following four general elections. She is a former party Spokesperson for Social and Family Affairs. In 1999, she opposed the merger of the Democratic Left into the Labour Party. In 2002, she was openly critical of Labour Party leader

Ruairi Quinn Ruairi Quinn (born 2 April 1946) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, ...

following a poor showing by Labour in the 2002 general election. Following Quinn's resignation from the leadership months later, she contested the open leadership position, but lost out to former Democratic Left member

Eamonn Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to: *Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name *Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist * ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II *"Éamon ...

. On 10 March 2011, she was appointed as Minister of State for Primary Care.

and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

tabled a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

James Reilly on 3 September 2012, after yet more cuts in the health service. Shortall addressed the Dáil during this motion and did not indicate her support for him or mention his name once, though she did vote against the motion. She resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care on 26 September 2012, and also resigned the Parliamentary Labour Party whip.

Social Democrats

On 15 July 2015, Shortall launched the

party along with fellow Independent TDs Stephen Donnelly and Catherine Murphy. She was elected for that party at the 2016 general election and 2020 general election. In February 2022 Shortall, who is the Social Democrats' spokesperson for Health, introduced a bill in the Dáil to stop the practice of the HSE sending debt collectors to cancer patients in search of payment. The Bill also seeks an end to an inpatient charge of €80 per visit for chemo and radiotherapy, and also seeks to end extortionate parking fees. The government choose not to oppose the bill. Shortall opined that it was “frankly disgusting” that cancer patients were being pursued by debt collectors during one of the most difficult points in their lives. Each of the other opposition parties all praised the content of the bill and similarly expressed their dismay at the idea of debt collectors being used on cancer patients.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shortall, Roisin 1954 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Marino Institute of Education Educators of the deaf Independent TDs Irish schoolteachers Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in Dublin (city) Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Social Democrats (Ireland) TDs Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland People from Drumcondra, Dublin