Sinéad Sheppard is an Irish politician and dancing tutor, and former member of the pop group

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

. She rose to fame in the 2001–02

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

television series ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'', in which she was selected as a member of the group. After the band's swift demise, Sheppard formed her own dance school and featured as an advisor to judge

John Creedon John Creedon (born 1958), also known as "Creedo", is an Irish language enthusiast and veteran broadcaster with RTÉ Radio. Host of ''The John Creedon Show'', weekday evenings 8-10pm on RTÉ Radio 1, he has also filled in for Dave Fanning on '' ...

in the 2009 talent show ''

The All Ireland Talent Show ''The All Ireland Talent Show'' was a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, ...

''. Since 2009 she has served as a member of local councils in Cork, representing

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 � ...

Early life

Sheppard is originally from Midleton Street in

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. She is a fluent

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

speaker having been educated at Coláiste an Phíarsaigh, a

gaelscoil A Gaelscoil (; plural: ''Gaelscoileanna'') is an Irish language-medium school in Ireland: the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary an ...

Glanmire Glanmire () is a suburban town from Cork city centre, in the civil parish of Rathcooney, County Cork, Ireland. Glanmire is within the administrative area of Cork City Council and the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central. The greater Gl ...

. Before being discovered by

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...

, she was intending to pursue a career in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

Career

Six membership

Sheppard was nineteen when she was selected as a member of Six. Her first show as a member of Six was at the

ChildLine Concert The ChildLine Concert, known for sponsorship reasons as the 'Cheerios ChildLine Concert', was an annual pop music charity event which took place in Ireland between 1997 and 2014. The money raised from the concerts was donated to the young perso ...

in the

Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Qu ...

, Dublin, where she performed in front of 8000 people. Six released two multi-platinum selling singles, both of which reached No. 1 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, and also had a top five album in Ireland. Their first single, "

There's a Whole Lot of Loving "There's a Whole Lot of Loving" is a song written by Christian Arnold with lyrics by David Martin and Geoff Morrow, released under the name of Guys 'n' Dolls. The song was a number-two hit in both the United Kingdom and Ireland and became the bi ...

" is the 3rd fastest-selling single in Irish musical history. Six did an arena tour with

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

in England, playing a total of sixty-six shows, and two nationwide tours of Ireland.

Other musical aspirations

Sheppard attempted to audition for the first series of the British-based talent show ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2004 alongside fellow ''

'' participants

Emma O'Driscoll Emma Louise O'Driscoll (born 23 March 1982 in Limerick, Ireland) is a former Irish pop star, turned children's television presenter and reality television personality. O'Driscoll rose to fame in the 2001–2002 RTÉ One television series '' Po ...

Andy Orr Six were an Irish pop group who formed on the Irish version of the television programme ''Popstars'' in 2002. The programme aired on RTÉ One on Sunday nights in the autumn and winter of 2001–02. The band were signed to Simon Cowell under BM ...

Liam McKenna Six were an Irish pop group who formed on the Irish version of the television programme ''Popstars'' in 2002. The programme aired on RTÉ One on Sunday nights in the autumn and winter of 2001–02. The band were signed to Simon Cowell under BM ...

and the runner-up in the first season of the Irish-based talent show ''

You're a Star ''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as ''Idol'' and ''The X Factor''. For its first three se ...

'', Simon Casey.

Television career

Sheppard featured on ''

'' which began in January 2009. She appeared on 1 February 2009 episode to assist John Creedon in the selection of his five acts to represent The South in the competition, specialising in dance choreography.

Politics

In the 2009 local elections, Sheppard was elected to

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

for

. She was elected to

Cork County Council Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

for the municipal area of

in the 2014 local elections.In a major reform in 2014, municipal districts replaced town councils. Councillors elected by district serve as county councillors but may meet also separately to fulfill some of the functions of the abolished town councillors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Sinead Living people Irish female dancers Fine Gael politicians Irish television personalities Participants in Irish reality television series People from Cobh Popstars winners Irish women singers Year of birth missing (living people)